J.  E.  Stevenson 


Credit  Mob'v  \  \er 


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LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


P(f 

SPEECHES 

OF 

HON.  JOB  E.  STEVENSON, 

OF  OHIO, 

DELIVERED 

IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

FEBRUARY  26  AND  MARCH  1,  1  S 7 3 ; 

AND 


EXHIBIT  OF  CREDIT  MOBILIER  LEGISLATION  AND  OPERATIONS. 


“  With  absolute  fairness  we  have  striven  to  attain  the  truth,  and  in  a  sentence  I  declare,  in  all  the 
history  of  finance  connected  with  works  of  this  or  any  other  country  I  never  saw  a  scheme  of  villainy  so 
profoundly  arranged,  so  cunningly  carried  forward,  and  so  disastrously  executed  as  this  one  disclosed  by 
the  report  now  submitted  to  the  House/’ — Mr.Shellabarger,of  the  Wilson  committee. 

“  We  have,  as  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Shellabarger]  says,  the  most  unexampled  revelation  of 
villainy  which  this  country  ever  knew  in  relation  to  railroads.”— Mr.  Cox. 

“  And  this  is  but  a  part  of  a  great  system  of  fraud;  it  is  only  the  outcropping,  the  surface  indications 
of  a  vast  system  of  fraud  by  which  there  have  been  turned  into  the  hands  and  pockets  of  citizens,  private 
and  official,  within  the  last  decade,  the  value  of  200,000,000  acres  of  public  lands  and  over  $60,000,000  in  cash. 
The  value  of  that  land,  according  to  the  statements  of  land-grant  railroad  companies,  is  to-day  not  less  ’ 
than  $1,000,000,000.  This  is  the  most  mammoth  robbery  ever  practiced  on  any  Government  or  people.” — Mr< . 
Stevenson. 


WASHINGTON: 

F.  &  J;  RIVES  &  GEO.  A.  BAILEY, 

REPORTERS  AND  PRINTERS  OF  THE  DEBATES  OF  CONGRESS. 

>  1873. 


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1*>  V'-  c.t 

CONTENTS. 


Page. 

h  Speech  on  Poland  Report . . .  5-9 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Hale  in  reply .  8 

Response  to  Mr.  Hale . . . . .  8-9 

Note,  bringing  down  the  history  of  legislation  from  the  spring  of  1869  (where  the 

hammer  fell)  to  1873 .  9 

Appendix . 10 

Mr.  Blaine’s  resolution  of  inquiry  as  amended  by  Mr.  Butler,  and  debate  and 

proceedings  thereon . . .  10-11 

Appointment  of  committee . 11 

Extracts  from  the  Poland  report... . .  10-12 

When  Ames  sold  stock .  12 

Extracts  from  the  Wilson  report — amount  invested  by  Credit  Mobilier  $400,000 .  12 

Profits  and  dividends  . . . 12,  13,  14 

Dividends  on  Ames’s  contract .  13 

Corruption  funds  greater  than  investment . .  14 

Ames’s  letters  to  McComb  and  list  of  assignments  of  stock . . .  14,  15 

Land  grants  and  value  of  lands . . . . .  16 

0  Railroad  debt  $80,000,000 . 16 

Report  of  Secretary  of  Interior,  November  30,  1868,  showing  Credit  Mobilier  frauds .  29 

Pacific  railroad  legislation . . .  16,  36 

Leavenworth,  Pawnee,  and  Western  (eastern  branch)  or  Denver  Pacific . 16,  17,  29,  32 

Washburne’ s  speech  on . . .  17,  29 

Van  Trump’s  speech .  30,  32 

Act  of  1862,  corruption . . .  17 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Lovejov .  17 

Remarks  of  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne . .  17 

Amendatory  act  of  1864 .  18 

Corruption  and  lobby  scenes .  14,  18 

Speeches  of  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne . 18,  19,  25,  29 

Speech  of  Mr.  C.  C.  Washburn . .  18,  23 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Holman . . .  19 

Votes  on . . . 19,  20,  26,  27 

Mr.  Dawes’s  resolution  of  December  16,  1867 .  20 

Debate  on,  by  Messrs.  Dawes,  Washburne,  Brooks,  and  Garfield . 20,  21,  22 

Vote  on . . .  23 

The  Washburne  resolution,  (1867,  1868) .  23 

Proceedings  and  debate  on .  23,  29 

Remarks  of  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne . 23,  25,  26,  27 

Remarks  of  Mr.  C.  C.  Washburn . 23,  24,  25,  26 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Dawes.... .  23 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Garfield .  23 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Holman . .  25 

The  Speaker’s  ruling,  (since  reversed) .  25 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Van  Wyck .  27 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Johnson,  of  California . . . . .  28 

Remarks  of  Mr.  Clarke,  of  Kansas .  28 

Votes . 23,  25,  28,  29 

Bingham  resolution .  32 

Debate  on,  in  Senate . . 32,  33,  34,  35,  36,  37 

Mr.  Stewart . 32 

Mr.  Nye . 33 

Mr.  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts . . .  . 34,  35,  36 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Kentucky .  35,  36 

Credit  Mobilier  debates  in  House  and  Senate  in  1868  and  1869....24,  28,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36 

See  dates  of  dividends  on  Ames’s  contract  in  1867-68 . .  13 

Stockholders,  &c.,  in  land-grant  railroads — Credit  Mobilier .  37 

Sioux  City  Pacific . 37 

Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City.... .  37,  38 

Legislation  in  Congress  and  in  Iowa  on  Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City .  37 

Profits — value  of  land  grant  and  cost  of  road .  37 

Mr.  Oakes  Ames’s  testimony .  38 

Mr.  Blaine’s  testimony . . .  38,  40 


! 008404 


Credit  Mobilier, 


Tho  Houso  having  under  consideration  the  report 
of  the  select  committee  appointed  to  investigate  the 
alleged  Credit  Mobilier  bribery— 

Mr.  STEVENSON  said: 

Mr.  Speaker  :  This  is  not  a  criminal  court, 
this  is  not  a  criminal  trial,  although  crim¬ 
inal  lawyers  so  argue  the  matter  and  seem  so 
to  consider  it.  If  it  had  been  a  criminal  trial 
one  of  the  parties  charged  would  not  have  been 
permitted  to  draw  the  indictment,  nor  would 
he  have  been  permitted  to  name  a  man  to  select 
the  committee,  nor  would  he  have  been  sitting 
in  the  chief  seat  of  judgment  while  the  cause 
is  being  tried.*  This  is  a  legislative  inquiry. 
Nor  has  the  committee  which  has  examined  the 
case  treated  it  as  a  criminal  trial.  We  are 
admonished  in  the  administration  of  criminal 
law  to  temper  justice  with  mercy.  This  com¬ 
mittee  has  tempered  mercy  with  justice.  They 
have  found  only  what  they  were  compelled  to 
find.  They  have  sought  nothing.  There  has 
been  no  prosecutor  on  the  committee,  nor  has 
the  spirit  of  prosecution  appeared  in  the  com¬ 
mittee.  ( 

We  are  now  here  to  consider  the  report  j 
extorted  by  the  unquestioned  facts  from  a  | 
reluctant  committee,  and  well  they  might  have 
been  reluctant.  What  was  this  charge?  It 
involved  the  Vice  President  and  the  Vice 
President-elect,  the  Speaker  of  this  House, 
and  the  chairmen  of  the  most  important  Com¬ 
mittees  of  this  House  ;  it  involved  the  House 
itself  in  its  very  organization  and  corporate 
existence.  And  I  am  not  disposed  to  blame 
the  committee  when  they  found  all  these 
leviathans  of  the  great  deep  in  their  net  that 
they  were  not  quite  able  to  haul  them  all  into 
their  little  tub. 

What  is  this  question?  It  is  a  question  of 
an  enormous  fraud  upon  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  a  fraud  which,  according 
to  the  report  of  a  select  committee  of  this  , 
House,  seems  to  have  put  into  the  pockets  of 
certain  men,  some  of  whom  have  all  the  while 

*Mr.  Blaine  presented  the  resolutions  of  inquiry 
touching  himself  and  others,  selected  a  member  to 
name  the  committee,  and  presided  over  the  House 
pending  the  consideration  of  the  report.  1 

5 


been  occupying  seats  on  this  floor,  the  enorm 
ous  sum  of  $43,000,000. 

Mr.  HOAR.  Will  the  gentleman - 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  1  cannot  be  interrupted 
by  anybody.  The  amount  of  securities  which 
this  fraud  has  placed  in  the  possession  of  these 
men  is  $43,000,000.  If  they  were  not  worth 
one  hundred  per  cent,  of  their  face,  it  was 
because  the  frauds  of  their  owners  depreciated 
them.  Rut  according  to  the  report  of  the 
committee  they  realized  $23,000,000  in  cash. 
I  refer  to  the  table  and  the  report  of  the  com¬ 
mittee  of  which  the  honorable  gentleman  from 
Indiana  [Mr.  Wilson]  is  chairman,  on  pages 
14  and  15. 

And  this  is  but  a  part  of  a  great  system  of 
fraud  ;  it  is  only  the  outcropping,  the  surface 
indications  of  a  vast  system  of  fraud  by  which 
there  have  been  turned  into  the  hands  and 
pockets  of  citizens,  private  and  official,  within 
the  last  decade,  the  value  of  200.000,000 
acres  of  public  lands  and  over '$60,000, 000 
in  cash.  The  value  of  that  land  according 
to  the  statements  of  land-grant  railroad  com¬ 
panies  is  to-day  not  less  than  $1,000,000,000. 

This  is  the  most  mammoth  robbery  ever  prac¬ 
ticed  on  any  Government  or  people  ;  and  how 
has  it  been  done  ?  In  part  by  legislation,  con¬ 
gressional  and  State,  chiefly  congressional.  The 
influence  of  the  lobby  has  been  brought  to  bear. 
Members  have  been  interested,  ex-members 
and  members-elect,  until  it  seems  to  be  the 
common  apprehension  among  the  people  that 
we  have  made  auction-rooms  of  our  legisla¬ 
tive  halls ;  and  I  believe  more  values  have 
passed  under  yonder  gavel  than  have  been 
knocked  down  under  the  hammers  of  auction¬ 
eers  in  all  the  world. 

How  has  this  been  done,  how  has  this  par¬ 
ticular  fraud  been  successfully  consummated  ? 
Mainly  by  the  suppression  of  inquiry  on  the 
part  of  Congress.  That  has  been  found  to  be 
the  object  of  the  leading  men  perpetrating  this 
fraud,  the  suppression  of  inquiry.  The  chief 
offender — and  I  speak  of  no  man  personally,  I 
have  had  the  greatest  respect  for  all — the  chief 
offender  is  shown  to  have  sold  his  stock  far 
below  its  true  value  to  twelve  leading  men  in 


6 


Congress,  and  to  have  offered  it  to  two  more ; 
fourteen  cases  proven  ;  and  he  chose  well ;  he 
laid  his  hand,  whether  to  bless  or  to  ban,  on 
the  heads  of  the  coming  men.  He  prophesied 
the  organization  of  the  Forty-First  and  Forty- 
Second  Congresses.  He  knew  his  men.  His 
letters  and  statement  show  where  he  was  plac¬ 
ing  the  stock  ;  they  show  with  what  persever¬ 
ance  he  endeavored  to  place  it ;  how  in  the  case 
of  one  who  refused  to  take  it  he  trebled  the 
amount  first  offered  before  he  finally  failed. 
His  highest  rate  was  $3,000  and  his  lowest 
was  $1,000.  He  began  in  his  efforts  at  Maine  ; 
he  came  to  New  Hampshire,  to  Massachusetts, 
to  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania;  to 
Ohio,  to  Indiana,  to  Illinois,  to  Iowa ;  and  from 
that  on  he  and  his  associates  owned  the  coun¬ 
try  without  purchase.  A  cordon  of  corruption 
sweeping  from  Maine  to  California  1 

And,  sir,  he  succeeded.  Tell  me  not  that 
this  was  a  failure.  It  has  been  the  grandest 
success  ever  achieved  among  men  by  such 
economical  application  of  means.  Audi  haye 
the  documents  here  to  prove  it. 

Mr.  FRYE.  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentle¬ 
man  one  question. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  I  have  not  time  to 
yield  for  questions.  I  have  all  these  books 
before  me  to  refer  to.  [Laughter.] 

Mr.  FRYE.  The  gentleman  had  better 
confine  himself  to  the  books  and  the  truth. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  If  the  gentleman  knows 
the  truth  better  than  I  do,  I  hope  he  will  have 
an  opportunity  to  tell  it. 

Mr.  RANKS.  I  object  to  these  interrup¬ 
tions. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio 
[Mr.  Stevenson]  is  entitled  to  proceed  with 
out  interruption. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  Now,  Mr.  Speaker, 
it  is  said  that  there  has  been  no  proposition 
of  importance  from  this  compauy  before 
Congress.  I  find  that  questions  relating  to 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  have  been  before 
Congress,  ever  present  and  absorbing,  in  the 
Fortieth,  Forty-First,  and  Forty-Second  Con¬ 
gresses  and  will  probably  be  in  the  Forty  Third 
Congress.  There  has  been  since  these  trans¬ 
actions  began  no  Congress,  no  session  in  which 
important  legislation  has  not  been  asked  and 
had  at  the  instance  of  this  company.  True, 
they  did  not  ask  more  money  ;  even  they  had 
not  the  conscience  for  that.  They  did  not  ask 
more  land  :  they  had  not  the  conscience.  But 
they  did  want  favors  ;  one  of  which  was  to  be 
saved  from  being  exposed.  They  came  here 
in  the  Fortieth  Congress,  even  in  December, 
while  these  bargains  were  being  made,  while 
the  ink  was  fresh  that  recorded  them,  if  they 
ever  were  written ;  they  came  here  on  the  16th 
of  December,  1867,  and  asked  authority  to 
change  the  time  and  place  of  holding  their 
meetings.  This  was  asked  through  the  hon¬ 
ored  Representative  from  Massachusetts,  [Mr. 
Dawes,]  who  said,  “I  was  asked  on  their 
behalf  to  do  this,”  and  on  that  day  this  House 


passed  such  a  resolution.  I  refer  to  the  Globe, 
volume  sixty-five,  pages  211,  and  233. 

Mr.  DAWES.  Will  the  gentleman  read  the 
resolution  ? 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  I  have  not  time  now. 
If  the  gentleman  wishes  to  read  it  I  will  hand 
it  to  him.  This  measure  was  passed  by  the 
Senate,  came  here,  and  was  passed  through 
the  House  on  the  next  day.  This  was  speedy 
action.  Among  those  voting  against  laying 
the  resolution  on  the  table  I  find  Mr.  Alli¬ 
son,  Mr.  Ames,  Mr.  Bingham,  Mr.  Blaine, 
Mr.  Dawes,  Mr.  Dodge,  Mr.  Hooper,  Mr. 
Kelley,  Mr.  Scofield,  and  Mr.  James  F. 
Wilson.  Among  those  voting  in  favor  of 
laying  the  resolution  on  the  table  I  find  my 
colleague,  Mr.  Garfield.  Upon  that  occasion 
it  appeared  there  was  a  quarrel  among  these 
directors ;  Mr.  Brooks  represented  one  side 
and  Mr.  Ames  the  other.  Mr.  Dawes  acted, 
as  he  stated,  at  the  request  of  the  directors. 
Mr.  Garfield,  of  Ohio,  called  attention  to  the 
rule  of  the  House  forbidding  an  interested 
person  to  vote. 

Mr.  DAWES.  Mr.  Speaker - 

The  SPEAKER.  For  what  purpose  does 
the  gentleman  rise? 

Mr.  DAWES.  Is  it  any  more  than  fair  that 
I  should  ask  the  gentleman  to  read  the  resolu¬ 
tion  ? 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  If  my  time  is  extended 
I  will  do  so.  If  the  House  will  give  me  ten 
minutes  1  will  have  it  read. 

The  SPEAKER.  It  is  for  the  gentleman 
from  Indiana  [Mr.  Niblack]  to  state  whether 
he  will  extend  the  time  of  the  gentleman  from 
Ohio. 

Mr,  STEVENSON.  My  proposition  was 
that  the  House  extend  my  time. 

The  SPEAKER.  Is  there  objection  to  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio  having  ten  minutes,  not 
to  be  counted  out  of  the  time  of  the  gentleman 
from  Indiana. 

Mr.  SARGENT.  For  what  purpose? 

The  SPEAKER.  To  enable  the  gentleman 
to  continue  his  speech. 

Mr.  SARGENT.  If  it  is  to  read  this  reso¬ 
lution  more  fully - 

The  SPEAKER.  There  must  be  either 
objection  or  consent.  Is  there  objection?  The 
Chair  hears  none.  The  gentleman  from  Ohio 
has  an  extension  of  time  for  ten  minutes. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  I  have  not  here  a  copy 
of  the  resolution,  but  the  substance  of  it  was 
stated  by  Mr.  Dawes.  I  will  read  it : 

“Mr.  Dawes.  I  ask  to  introduce  a  joint  reso¬ 
lution  for  action  at  this  time,  to  which  I  presume 
there  will  be  no  objection.  It  is  a  joint  resolution 
changing  the  time  of  holding  the  annual  meeting  of 
the  stockholdes  of  the  Union  Pacific  railroad.” 

He  states  further  : 

“My  resolution  simply  asks  on  behalf  of  the  stock¬ 
holders  of  this  road  that  they  may  change  the  time 
of  holding  their  annual  neotings  from  October,  the 
time  now  fixed  by  law,  to  March,  and  also  that  they 
may  designate  at  one  meeting  the  place  where  they 
may  hold  their  next  annual  meeting,  provided  it  is 
held  at  one  of  the  five  or  six  places  enumerated  in 


7 


the  acts,  where  the  books  were  opened  for  subscrip¬ 
tions;  that  is,  St.  Louis.  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Balti¬ 
more,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Boston,  and  Wash¬ 
ington.” 

The  gentleman  from  Indiana  [Mr.  Voor- 
hees]  thinks  he  makes  a  point  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Brooks  when  he  says  that  Mr.  Brooks  did  not 
vote  on  this  question.  Perhaps  that  is  ac¬ 
counted  for  by  the  fact  that  my  colleague  from 
Ohio  [Mr.  Garfield]  called  for  the  reading 
of  the  rule  forbidding  members  having  an 
interest  in  a  question  to  vote,  and  that  rule 
was  read  and  the  construction  of  it. 

Mr.  PLATT.  I  ask  the  gentleman  to  have 
the  entire  list  of  the  yeas  and  nays  read. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  If  desired  they  may 
be  printed  with  my  remarks,  but  it  takes  time 
to  read  the  yeas  and  nays,  and  I  cannot  afford 
to  lose  the  time. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  next  item  to  which  I  call 
your  attention  is  the  report  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  made  in  1868,  and  I  do  so  in 
order  to  correct  a  statement  made  by  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Kentucky  [Mr.  Beck]  when  he 
says  no  officer  of  the  Government  ever  called 
attention  to  the  manner  in  which  this  road  was 
being  built.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in 
his  report  for  November  30,  1868,  on  page 
12,  did  call  attention  to  the  fraud  which  was 
being  perpetrated  by  a  quotation  from  the 
report  of  Mr.  Williams,  of  Indiana,  who  had 
examined  the  road  as  a  commissioner  for  the 
Government.  He  says : 

“  The  actual  cost  to  the  contractors  forming  an  as¬ 
sociation  which  embraces  most  of  the  larger  stock¬ 
holders  of  the  company  is  shown  only  by  their  pri¬ 
vate  books,  to  which  the  Government  directors 
have  no  access. 

And  he  then  gives  estimates  from  the  best 
information  he  could  get. 

Mr.  MAYNARD.  What  was  the  date  of 
that  report  ? 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  November  30,  1868. 
He  estimates  from  the  best  information  he 
could  obtain  that  they  would  make  $17,750,000 
on  the  contracts  then  being  executed. 

On  the  20th  March,  1868,  a  debate  occurred 
in  this  House  upon  a  resolution  of  Mr.  Wash 
burne  to  regulate  the  tariff  of  freights  of  this 
company.  In  the  Globe,  volume  sixty-six, 
page  2029,  it  appears  that  Mr.  C.  C.  Washburn, 
of  Wisconsin,  made  a  speech  on  that  question 
which  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  the 
Globe,  volume  sixty-nine,  on  page  295.  In 
the  course  of  that  speech  Mr.  Washburne  then 
exposed  this  whole  business,  beginning  with 
the  bill  of  1864  and  showing  the  frauds  in 
which  it  was  initiated,  showing  the  fraud  per¬ 
petrated  by  the  company  in  deceiving  the  coun¬ 
try  as  to  the  grade  of  the  road,  and  exposing 
the  operations  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  byname, 
charging  that  it  was  formed  of  the  directors 
and  chief  stockholders  of  the  railroad  com¬ 
pany,  and  was  committing  a  fraud  on  the  Gov¬ 
ernment,  and  that  they  would  make  enormous 
profits  by  its  operations. 

It  has  been  said  that  some  gentlemen  in¬ 


volved  say  they  did  not  hear  that  speech  of  Mr. 
Washburne,  but  I  find  the  following  members 
recorded  as  taking  part  in  the  proceedings  of 
that  day  :  Messrs.  Bingham,  Boutwell,  Wilson 
of  Iowa,  Scofield,  Garfield,  Blaine,  and 
Mr.  Dawes  himself  interrupting  Mr.  Wash¬ 
burne  in  the  course  of  his  remarks,  as  appears 
on  page  300  of  the  Appendix.  Mr.  Elihu  B. 
Washburne  also  spoke  on  that  question. 

I  am  asked  what  Mr.  Dawes  said.  Mr. 
C.  C.  Washburne  proposed  to  restrain  the 
Pacific  railroad  companies  by  limiting  their 
rates  of  freight.  Mr.  Dawes  inquired :  “  Why 
not  apply  your  rule  to  the  New  York  Central 
and  Erie  road?”  I  cite  this  merely  to  show 
the  presence  of  these  gentlemen.  This  de¬ 
bate  made  a  sensation.  It  was  not  done  in  a 
corner.  It  was  known  of  men.  The  vote  was 
taken  on  this  question  March  26,  1868,  as 
appears  in  volume  sixty-seven,  pages  2129 
and  2130.  Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  moved 
that  there  be  a  call  of  the  House.  That  vote 
is  recorded  on  page  2129.  The  following  gen¬ 
tlemen  were  present  and  voted  in  the  nega¬ 
tive;  Messrs.  Allison,.  Ames,  Bingham,  Bout- 
well,  Dawes,  Dodge,  Hooper,  Kelley,  Sco¬ 
field,  and  James  F.  Wilson.  Mr.  Blainh 
and  Mr.  Garfield  did  not  vote. 

A  motion  was  pending  to  refer  the  resolu¬ 
tion  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Committee,  and 
on  ordering  the  main  question  on  this  motion 
the  following  gentlemen  are  recorded  as  vot¬ 
ing  in  the  affirmative,  on  page  230:  Messrs. 
Allison,  Ames,  Bingham,  Boutwell,  Dodge, 
Hooper,  Kelley,  and  James  F.  Wilson.  Mr. 
Washburne  voted  in  the  negative.  Messrs. 
Blaine  and  Garfield  did  not  vote.  Mr.  Hol¬ 
man  called  for  the  reading  of  the  rule  forbidding 
members  interested  to  vote.  The  question 
recurred  on  the  motion  to  refer  to  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  the  Pacific  railroad.  On  that  I  find 
voting  in  the  affirmative,  Messrs.  Ames,  Bing¬ 
ham,  Boutwell,  Dawes,  Dodge,  Hooper, 
Kelley,  and  James  F.  Wilson ;  in  the  nega¬ 
tive,  Mr.  Washburne  and  others;  and  among 
those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Blaine,  Brooks, 
and  Garfield.  The  motion  prevailed. 

By  the  Globe,  volume  seventy-one,  pages  463, 
528,  itappears  that  on  the  19th  of  January,  1869, 
Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  made  a  speech 
upon  the  bill  relative  to  the  Denver  Pacific 
railroad  in  which  he  went  over  again  this 
subject.  And  on  the  22d  January,  1869,  my 
colleague  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Van  Trump]  made 
a  speech  in  which  he  developed  with  great 
clearness  and  force  the  frauds  charged  against 
this  company.  He  stated  the  fact  that  the 
road  was  being  built  by  this  Credit  Mobilier 
organization,  and  called  attention  to  the  re¬ 
port  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  to  which 
I  have  referred. 

[Here  the  hammer  fell.] 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  I  ask  a  few  moments; 
more  to  refer  to  a  debate  in  the  Senate  in 
April,  1869,  in  which  Mr.  Stewart  and  Mr. 
Nye  exposed  the  Credit  Mobilier  by  name  and 


8 


in  detail,  as  appears  by  the  Globe,  volume 
seventy  four,  pages  503,  505,  538. 

Mr.  NIBLACK,  of  Indiana.  I  cannot  yield 
further  to  the  gentleman. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  Then  I  ask  leave  to 
print  the  balance  of  my  remarks. 

Mr.  CONGER.  I  object  to  printing  any¬ 
thing  that  is  not  delivered  in  the  presence  of 
this  House. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  Massachusetts,  took  the 
floor,  and  yielded  to 

Mr.  HALE,  who  said:  Mr.  Speaker,  I  only 
ask  for  a  little  time.  The  gentleman  from 
Ohio  [Mr.  Stevenson]  has  alluded  to  the 
Washburn  resolution  introduced  in  1868, 
which  limited  and  restricted  the  privileges 
of  the  Pacific  railroad,  and  in  treating  that 
subject  referred  with  marked  emphasis  to  the 
votes  of  certain  members  in  this  House.  So 
far  as  that  affects  my  colleague,  [Mr.  Blaine,] 
the  Speaker  of  this  House,  I  desire  the  record 
shall  be  before  the  House  and  before  the 
country,  and  I  ask  the  Clerk  to  read  the 
abstract  of  the  Washburn  resolution  as  it  is 
found  in  the  Globe  of  the  year  1868,  which  I 
send  to  his  desk. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows  : 

“It  proposes  to  constitute  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  the  Attorney  Gen¬ 
eral  of  the  United  States  a  board  of  commissioners, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  on  the  1st  day  of  July  in  each 
year  to  establish  a  tariff  for  freight  aud  passengers 
over  the  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  rail¬ 
roads  and  their  branches,  which  tariff  shall  be 
equitable  and  just,  and  not  exceeding  double  the 
average  rates  charged  on  the  different  lines  of  rail¬ 
road  between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic 
ocean  in  latitudes  north  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri;  and 
that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  said  railroad  com¬ 
panies  to  charge  any  sum  in  excess  of  the  rate  so 
fixed.” 

Mr.  HALE.  Mr.  Speaker,  that  resolution 
was  introduced  by  Mr.  Washburn,  of  Wiscon¬ 
sin,  on  the  26th  day  of  January,  1868,  on  a 
Monday,  under  the  second  call.  Objection 
was  made  that  Mr.  Washburn  had  already  in¬ 
troduced  one  resolution  under  that  call,  and 
his  resolution  went  out  on  the  point  of  order. 
But  immediately  afterward  he  induced  Mr. 
Windom,  of  Minnesota,  to  offer  the  same  res¬ 
olution  in  terms,  and  the  previous  question 
was  moved.  On  seconding  the  demand,  the 
vote,  being  taken  by  tellers,  was  ayes  51,  noes 
63  ;  there  being  no  record,  of  course,  of  the 
names  on  a  vote  by  tellers,  and  so  the  subject 
went  over  that  day. 

It  came  up  again  on  the  12th  of  March,  1868, 
tin d  &  motion  was  at  once  made  to  lay  the 
resolution  on  the  table.  Upon  that  the  yeas 
and  nays  were  ordered,  and  upon  that  record 
1  find  my  colleague,  [Mr.  Blaine,]  then  as 
now  a  member  from  Maine,  voting  “  nay,” 
with  both  of  the  Washburns,  the  mover  of 
the  resolution,  and  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne, 
the  known  and  unrelenting  foe  of  all  monopo¬ 
lies.  Upon  that  occasion  I  may  say,  without 
going  into  the  record  of  members  at  length, 
that  I  find  the  gentleman  from  Vermont,  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  now  reporting, 


voting  “yea,”  while  the  gentleman  from  Mas¬ 
sachusetts,  [Mr.  Banks,]  who  has  just  taken 
his  seat,  is  recorded  as  not  voting  at  all  on  the 
motion  to  lay  the  resolution  on  the  table. 

The  resolution  came  up  again  on  the  26th 
of  March,  1868,  and  upon  two  votes,  one  be¬ 
ing  on  ordering  the  main  question  and  the 
other  upon  whether  it  should  be  referred  to 
the  Pacific  Railroad  Committee,  where  it 
would  naturally  go,  as  it  had  not  been  dis¬ 
cussed  in  the  House,  as  not  a  word  had 
been  said  about  it,  I  do  not  find  recorded  the 
vote  of  Mr.  Blaine,  he  not  being  present. 
It  was  then  and  there  referred  to  its  proper 
committee,  that  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and 
on  May  12,  1868,  that  committee  reported 
to  the  House,  aud  the  question  arose  upon 
the  passage  of  the  resolution  as  reported  by  the 
committee.  Upon  that  question  a  motion  was 
made  in  delay,  to  recommit  to  the  committee, 
and  again  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered 
and  a  record  was  again  made.  The  yeas 
were  65,  the  nays  69,  and  on  the  question  of 
recommittal,  I  find  that  ray  colleague,  Mr. 
Blaine,  then  voted  against  recommittal,  and 
that  Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  who  had  jeal¬ 
ously  watched  the  resolution  from  its  first  re¬ 
ception,  voted  “nay,”  and  the  gentleman  from 
Vermont,  [Mr.  Poland,]  as  before,  voted  on 
the  other  side,  and  the  gentleman  from  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  [Mr.  Banks]  was  not  present  or 
did  not  vote. 

Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne  was  so  much  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  passage  of  that  resolution,  which 
immediately  followed  upon  the  defeat  of  the 
motion  to  recommit,  that  he  himself  at  once 
moved  a  reconsideration,  and  the  laying 
on  the  table  of  the  motion  to  reconsider,  in 
order  to  clinch  the  action  of  the  House, 
and  secure  its  becoming  the  law  of  the  land, 
so  far  as  this  House  was  concerned.  In  all 
this  my  colleague  was  found  acting  with  Mr. 
Washburne,  and  in  what  better  company  he 
could  have  acted  on  such  votes  I  do  not  know. 
And  if  the  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  Steven¬ 
son]  finds  anything  in  this  record  either  of 
fear  of  or  favor  for  the  Pacific  railroad  he  has 
a  much  deeper  penetration  than  I  have. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  Massachusetts.  I  move 
that  the  House  now  take  a  recess  until  half 
past  seven. 

Mr.  STEVENSON.  If  the  gentleman  will 
allow  me,  I  wish  to  say  that  the  record  I  quoted 
as  to  these  votes  differs  from  that  quoted  by 
the  gentleman  from  Maine,  [Mr.  Hale,]  as 
I  included  that  of  December  17,  1867,  and  he 
adds  that  of  May  12,  1868. 


Saturday,  March  1,  1873. 

The  House  having  under  consideration  the  deft* 
ciency  bill — 

Mr.  STEVENSON  said: 

I  wish  in  this  connection  to  correct  a  state¬ 
ment  made  the  other  day  by  the  gentleman 
from  Maine,  [Mr.  Hale.]  The  record  ex¬ 
hibited  by  me  of  votes  on  the  resolution  of 


9 


Mr.  Dawes,  December  17,  1867,  and  that  ex¬ 
hibited  by  the  gentleman  from  Maine,  [Mr. 
Hale,]  of  votes  on  the  Washburne  resolution. 
May  12,  1868,  these  records  show  that  Mr. 
Blaine  voted  with  Mr.  Ames  in  favor  of  the 
road  in  December,  and  with  Mr.  Wash¬ 
burne  against  the  road  in  May.  The  tes¬ 
timony  taken  by  the  Poland  committee 
shows  that  Mr.  Ames’s  assignment  of  stock 
was  made  in  December.  In  his  letter  to 
McComb,  January  25,  1868,  Mr.  Ames  says  he 
has  assigned  to  one  from  Maine.  The  list  he 
gave  McComb,  February  1,  1868,  begins, 
“  Blaine,  of  Maine,  3,000.”  The  testimony 
of  Mr.  Blaine  shows  that  in  the  spring  of 
1868  he  finally  declined  Mr.  Ames’s  proposi¬ 
tion.  Thus  it  appears  that  when  the  proposi¬ 
tion  was  pending  he  voted  with  Ames,  and 
when  it  was  abandoned  he  voted  with  Mr. 
Washburne.* 

[Here  the  hammer  fell.] 


NOTE. 

The  object  of  the  resolution  presented 
in  the  first  session  of  the  Forty-First  Con¬ 
gress,  April,  1869,  was  to  release  the  Credit 
Mobilier  from  Judge  Barnard’s  court  in  New 
York,  where  Fisk  was  making  the  same 
charges  since  proved  by  McComb.  There  was 
protracted  debate  in  the  Senate  by  Messrs. 
Stewart,  Nye,  Wilson,  Davis,  and  others, 
and  amendments  were  adopted  in  the  inter¬ 
est  of  the  Government,  proposed  by  Mr.  Sher¬ 
man  and  Mr.  Davis.  The  facts  were  stated  in 
that  debate  as  they  are  now  understood,  save 
as  to  persons  involved. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Forty-First  Con¬ 
gress  a  bill  was  passed  to  fix  the  junction  of 
the  Union  Pacific  and  Central  Pacific  roads, 
presented  in  the  House  February  21,  1870,  in 
the  Senate,  February  22;  1870.  The  Senate 
bill  having  passed  the  Senate,  February  25, 
1870,  was  taken  from  the  Speaker’s  table  and 
passed  April  30,  1870,  the  chairman  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Company  of  the  House  say¬ 
ing,  “The  committee  has  considered  a  counter¬ 
part  of  the  bill ;  both  railroads  agree  upon  it.” 

At  the  third  session  of  the  Forty- First  Con¬ 
gress  sundry  bills  and  resolutions  were  pend¬ 
ing,  and  March  3,  1871,  during  the  night,  sec¬ 
tion  nine  of  the  Army  appropriation  bill  came 
into  the  House,  in  a  report  from  a  conference 
committee,  which  was  agreed  to  without  print¬ 
ing  or  reading,  though  Mr.  Holman  protest¬ 
ed.  The  yeas  and  nays  were  refused.  This 
section  compelled  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas¬ 
ury,  against  his  will  and  judgment,  to  pay  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Companies  one  half  their 
earnings  on  Government  freight. 

The  railroad  debts  to  the  Government  had 
then  risen,  January  1,  1871,  to  $64,618,832  and 
$8,933,127  48.  Total  more  than  $73,500,000. 


*Jn  December  he  voted  with  Ames;  in  March  he 
did  not  vote  at  all;  in  May  he  voted  with  Wash¬ 
burne. 


It  was  time  for  some  check.  The  Secretary 
gave  it,  but  Congress  interfered  in  favor  of  the 
railroads. 

And  now  it  is  in  evidence  that  the  sum  of 
$126,000  was  expended  by  the  company  to 
procure  this  legislation  ;  but  how  it  was  applied 
has  not  been  ascertained,  because  Mr.  Dodge, 
who  received  it,  has  refused  or  failed  to  answer 
the  process  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
He  was  a  member  of  Congress  and  chief  en¬ 
gineer  of  the  road  while  the  frauds  were  per¬ 
petrated,  and  participated  in  them,  and  has 
since  been  employed  in  continuing  and  con¬ 
cealing  them.  (See-  report  of  Wilson  Com¬ 
mittee;  extracts  herewith.) 

During  the  Forty- Second  Congress  we  have 
had  resolutions  of  inquiry  and  bills  affecting 
this  company,  and  finally  these  investigations 
out  of  which  important  action  and  legislation 
has  come. 

Thus  it  appears  that  from  December,  1867, 
to  March,  1873,  the  Pacific  Railroad  Company 
has  been  continually  before  Congress  in  mat¬ 
ters  affecting  the  interest  of  the  Credit  Mobilier 
which  has  been  constantly  in  peril  of  exposure. 
Other  kindred  questions  have  been  before  Con¬ 
gress.  The  records  show  that  land-grant  and 
subsidy  railroad  bills  and  resolutions  have 
abounded.  The  index  of  those  before  the  House 
alone  fills  columns  in  the  Globe.  For  the  For¬ 
tieth  Congress  they  fill  seventeen  columns  of 
the  index ;  for  the  Forty- First  Congress,  more 
than  twenty  columns,  and  in  the  Forty-Second 
Congress  more*  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
bills  have  been  introduced  proposing  to  give 
to  railroads  lauds  estimated  at  two  hundred 
million  acres. 

All  will  remember  the  contest  on  the  St. 
Croix  grant.  More  than  forty  members  of  the 
House  took  part  in  the  debate,  and  the  result 
was  a  drawn  battle.  The  Senate  having  passed 
the  bill  reviving  the  grant,  the  House  substitut¬ 
ing  a  bill  to  restore  the  lands  to  settlement, 
the  Senate  refusing  to  concur,  and  conference 
having  failed,  here  is  a  question  for  the  future. 

The  bill  “to  quiet  title  to  certain  lands  in 
Iowa,”  passed  at  this  session,  has  become  a 
law  without  the  signature  of  the  President.*  It 
was  passed  by  the  House  at  this  session  from 
the  Speaker’s  table.  The  House  proceeding 
to  business  on  the  Speaker’s  table  for  the  first 
time  during  the  session,  passing  this  bill,  and 
not  returning  to  the  table  until  the  last  day  of 
the  session. 

Homestead,  bounty,  and  educational  bills 
affecting  public  lands,  and  resolutions  touch¬ 
ing  the  policy  of  “land  grants,”  have  been 
pending,  discussed,  and  passed  upon. 

Thus  it  appears  that  in  many  forms  the  sub¬ 
ject  has  been  before  Congress  in  the  Fortieth, 
Forty-First,  and  Forty  Second,  from  the  be¬ 
ginning  to  the  end. 

Comment  affecting  persons  is  withheld,  and 
extracts  from  public  documents,  arid  from  the 

*  The  President  did  not  return  the  bill  within  ten 
days. 


10 


debates  and  proceedings  in  the  Congressional 
Globe  are  submitted,  with  such  remarks  only 
as  appears  needful  to  show  their  bearing  on  the 
subject. 

APPENDIX. 

Resolutions  of  inquiry  offered  by  Mr.  Blaine , 
as  amended  by  Mr .  Butler ,  December  2, 
1872. 

u  Whereas  accusations  have  been  made  in 
the  public  press,  founded  on  alleged  letters  of 
Oakes  Ames,  a  Representative  from  Massa¬ 
chusetts,  and  upon  the  alleged  affidavits  of 
Henry  S.  McComb,  a  citizen  of  Wilmington, 
in  the  State  of  Delaware,  to  the  effect  that 
members  of  this  House  wore  bribed  by  Oakes 
Ames  to  perform  certain  legislative  acts  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany,  by  presents  of  stock  in  the  Credit  Mo- 
bilier  of  America,  or  by  presents  of  a  valuable 
character  derived  therefrom  :  Therefore, 
Resolved ,  That  a  special  committee  of  five 
members  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker  pro 
tempore ,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  investigate 
whether  any  member  of  this  House  was  bribed 
by  Oakes  Ames,  or  any  other  person  or  cor¬ 
poration,  in  any  matter  touching  his  legislative 
duty. 

Resolved  further,  That  the  committee  have 
the  right  to  employ  a  stenographer,  and  that 
they  be  empowered  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers.” 

Extracts  from  proceedings  on  adopting  the 
resolutions. 

ALLEGED  BRIBERY  OF  MEMBERS. 

<fMr.  BLAINE,  (Mr.  Cox  occupying  the 
chair.)  Mr.  Speaker,  I  rise  to  a  question  of 
the  highest  privilege,  to  one  that  concerns  the 
integrity  of  members  of  this  House  and  the 
honor  of  the  House  itself.  It  is  quite  gener¬ 
ally  known  to  the  members  of  this  House  that 
during  the  recent  presidential  campaign  there 
was  a  wide-spread  accusation  of  bribery  of 
members;  that  members  of  this  House  were 
bribed  to  perform  certain-  legislative  acts  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany  by  presents  of  stock  in  a  corporation 
known  as  the  61  Credit  Mobilier.”  Without 
obtruding  myself  as  one  of  eminent  station,  I 
may  say  that  the  charge  struck  in  high  places. 
It  included  the  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States,  the  Vice  President-elect  of  the  United 
States;  it  included  three  Senators  of  the  Uni¬ 
ted  States,  two  of  them  ex-Senators  from  Ten¬ 
nessee  and  Delaware,  and  a  present  Senator 
from  New  Hampshire;  it  included  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States;  it 
included  honorable  and  prominent  members 
of  this  House — my  friend,  the  chairman  of 
the  Ways  and  Means,  [Mr.  Dawes;]  my 
friend,  the  chairman  of  the  Appropriation 
Committee,  [Mr.  Garfield  ;]  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania,  [Mr.  Kelley,]  the  chair¬ 
man  of  the  Civil  Service  Committee  j  the  gen¬ 


tleman  from  Ohio,  [Mr.  Bingham,]  the  chair¬ 
man  of  the  Judiciary  Committee  ;  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Pennsylvania,  [Mr.  Scofield,] 
the  chairman  of  the  Naval  Committee  ;  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House,  the  prominent  and4 
distinguished  member  of  the  Ways  and  Means 
Committee  from  New  York,  [Mr.  Brooks,] 
and  a  member  from  Pennsylvania  [Mr. 
Boyer]  not  now  in  this  House  ;  and  besides 
these,  a  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  [Mr. 
Eliot]  no  longer  among  the  living,  but  sleep¬ 
ing  in  what  was  considered  an  honored  grave. 
These  accusations  are  that  the  several  per¬ 
sons  received  bribes  from  the  hands  of 
a  Representative  from  Massachusetts,  [Mr. 
Ames.]  A  charge  of  bribery  of  members  is 
the  gravest  that  can  be  made  in  a  legislative 
body.  It  seems  to  me,  sir,  that  this  charge 
demands  prompt,  thorough,  and  impartial 
investigation,  and  I  have  taken  the  floor  for 
the  purpose  of  moving  that  investigation. 
Unwilling,  of  course,  to  appoint  any  commit¬ 
tee  of  investigation  to  examine  into  a  charge 
in  which  I  was  myself  included,  I  have  called 
you,  sir,  to  the  chair,  an  honored  member  of 
the  House,  honored  here  and  honored  in  the 
country;  and  when  on  Saturday  last  I  called 
’upon  you  and  advised  you  of  this  service,  I 
placed  upon  you  no  other  restriction  in  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  than  that  it 
should  not  contain  a  majority  of  my  political 
friends. 

I  therefore  send  to  the  Clerk’s  desk,  for* 
adoption  by  the  House,  a  preamble  and 
accompanying  resolution.  If  there  be  no  gen¬ 
tleman  desiring  to  discuss  them,  I  will  call  the 
previous  question. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows  : 

Whereas  accusations  have  been  made  in  the 
public  press,  founded  on  the  alleged  letters 
of  Oakes  Ames,  a  Representative  from  Mas¬ 
sachusetts,  and  upon  the  alleged  affidavit  of 
Henry  C.  McCombs,  a  citizen  of  Wilmington, 
in  the  State  of  Delaware,  to  the  effect  that 
members  of  this  House  were  bribed  by  Oakes 
Ames  to  perform  certain  legislative  acts  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railway  Com¬ 
pany  by  presents  of  stock  in  the  Credit  Mobil¬ 
ier  of  America,  or  by  presents  of  a  valuable 
character  derived  therefrom  :  Therefore, 

Resolved ,  That  a  special  committee  of  five 
members  be  appointed  by  the  Speaker  pro 
tempore ,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  investigate 
and  ascertain  whether  any  member  of  this 
House  was  bribed  by  Oakes  Ames  in  any 
matter  touching  his  legislative  duty. 

Resolved  further ,  That  the  committee  have 
the  right  to  employ  a  stenographer,  and  that 
they  be  empowered  to  send  for  persons  and 
papers. 

The  question  was  upon  the  adoption  of  the 
preamble  and  resolutions. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  Massachusetts.  This 
resolution,  by  inadvertence  I  assume,  relates 
only  to  bribery  by  a  member  of  this  House. 
The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore ,  (Mr.  Cox.) 


11 


Does  the  gentleman  from  Maine  [Mr.  Blaine] 
withdraw  the  ca.ll  for  the  previous  question? 

Mr.  BLAINE,  (the  Speaker.)  Certainly. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  Massachusetts.  I  would 
suggest  to  the  mover  of  the  resolution  to  mod¬ 
ify  it,  or  I  will  move  to  amend  it,  so  that  it 
will  read,  “bribed  by  Oakes  Ames  or  any 
other  person/’ 

Mr.  BLAINE.  I  will  modify  the  resolution 
to  that  effect. 

Mr.  BUTLER,  of  Massachusetts.  It  should 
be  made  as  broad  as  possible. 

Mr.  BLAINE.  Certainly.  In  intimating 
a  desire  to  call  the  previous  question  I  had  no 
intention  to  cut  off  any  amendment  or  remark. 
I  said  that  if  no  other  member  desired  to 
speak  upon  it  I  would  call  the  previous  ques¬ 
tion.  I  will  modify  the  resolution  so  that  it 
will  read,  “bribed  by  Oakes  Ames,  or  any 
other  person  or  corporation.” 

Mr.  KELLEY.  I  would  suggest  to  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Maine  [Mr.  Blaine]  that  he  has 
not  given  Mr.  McComb’s  name  correctly. 

Mr.  BLAINE.  I  do  not  know  the  gentle¬ 
man.  I  have  seen  the  name  in  print  as  “  Henry 
C.  McComb.” 

Mr.  KELLEY.  It  is  “  Henry  S.  McComb.” 

Mr.  BLAINE.  I  will  make  that  correction. 
If  the  gentleman  who  occupies  the  chair  de¬ 
sires  any  further  time  in  which  to  make  up 
this  committee,  I  will  call  the  yeas  and  nays. 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore .  The  Chair 
would  suggest  to  the  gentleman  from  Maine 
[Mr.  Blaine]  that  the  resolution  has  not  yet 
been  adopted,  and  therefore  the  Chair  has  no 
right,  as  yet,  to  appoint  the  committee.  [Laugh¬ 
ter.] 

Mr.  BLAINE.  “The  gentleman  from 
Maine”  stands  corrected.  [Laughter.] 

The  SPEAKERpro  tempore.  The  question 
is  upon  the  adoption  of  the  preamble  and  reso¬ 
lutions  which  have  been  read. 

Mr.  ARCHER.  I  hope  this  resolution  will 
not  be  adopted.  This  question  has  been  tried 
by  a  higher  tribunal  than  this  House.  The 
charges  were  made  broadcast  all  over  the 
country  before  the  campaign  through  which  we 
have  just  passed  took  place.  Upon  them  the 
American  people  have  spoken.  We  had  much 
better  go  on  with  the  business  ofthe  country  than 
to  continue  such  investigations  as  we  have  had. 

Mr.  RANDALL.  I  hope  that  this  resolu¬ 
tion  will  be  adopted.  I  had  hoped  that  it 
would  be  adopted  with  unanimity.  I  trust 
that,  in  the  language  of  the  Speaker,  this 
investigation  will  be  full,  thorough,  and  search¬ 
ing.  Less  than  that  will  not  meet  the  expecta¬ 
tion  or  the  requirements  of  the  people  of  the 
country.  There  has  been  a  dark  cloud  of 
scandal  raised  over  this  House.  It  is  due  to 
such  members  as  have  not  in  any  manner 
whatever  been  involved  in  any  such  proceed¬ 
ings  that  their  characters  should  be  lifted 
above  suspicion  ;  and,  further,  that  the  heavy 
thunderbolt  of  public  opinion  should  fall  upon 
these  few,  if  any,  who  are  implicated  in  voting 


for  bills  in  which  they  were  directly  or  indi¬ 
rectly  interested. 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  agree  with  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania,  [Mr.  Randall.]  I  hope 
this  resolution  will  be  adopted  without  a  dis¬ 
senting  voice.  Without  expressing  any  opinion 
in  reference  to  the  result  of  such  an  investi¬ 
gation,  it  is  due  to  the  House,  as  well  as  to 
the  members  implicated,  that  there  should  be 
no  shrinking  at  this  time  from  a  thorough 
exhaustive,  fair,  and  impartial  investigation. 
In  times  that  have  passed  I  have  borne  my 
full  share  in  urging  upon  the  House  the  pro¬ 
priety  of  taking  cognizance  of  charges  of  this 
kind  when  presented  by  responsible  authority. 
I  do  not  intend  now  to  shrink  from  any  such 
investigation  ;  and  I  trust  that  those  who 
stand  with  me  to-day  will  feel,  as  I  have  no 
doubt  they  do,  the  propriety  of  calling  upon 
the  House,  without  opposition  and  without 
dissent,  to  pursue  this  investigation  as  they 
would  a  judicial  trial,  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  result  will  command,  as  I  have  no  doubt 
it  will  receive,  the  approval  of  the  American 
people. 

Mr.  HOLMAN.  It  seems  to  me  very  proper 
that  this  resolution  should  be  adopted  and  this 
committee  raised.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
House,  without  dissent,  with  that  unanimity 
which  will  arrest  the  attention  of  the  country, 
should  adopt  this  resolution.  I  think  the 
House  owes  this  to  itself,  to  the  individual 
members  composing  this  body,  and  to  the 
country.  I  trust  this  resolution  will  be  adopted 
without  a  dissenting  voice. 

The  preamble  and  resolutions,  as  modified, 
were  agreed  to. 

Mr.  BLAINE  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote 
by  which  the  preamble  and  resolutions  were 
adopted;  and  also  moved  that  the  motion  to 
reconsider  be  laid  on  the  table. 

The  latter  motion  was  agreed  to. 

The  SPEAKER  pro  tempore.  The  present 
occupant  of  the  chair  having  been  advised 
beforehand  that  he  would  be  called  upon  to 
act  on  this  matter,  has  had  time  enough  to 
select  a  committee,  which  he  submits  as  the 
result  of  his  best  judgment,  having  in  view  the 
securing  of  a  fair  and  impartial  investigation. 

The  Clerk  read,  as  follows,  the  names  of  the 
members  constituting  the  committee: 

Luke  P.  Poland  of  Vermont,  Nathaniel 
P.  Banks  of  Massachusetts,  James  B.  Beck 
of  Kentucky,  William  E.  Niblack  of  Indi¬ 
ana,  and  George  W.  McCrary  of  Iowa.” 

[Subsequently,  Mr.  Beck  declining  to  serve, 
Mr.  Cox,  as  Speaker  pro  tempore ,  appointed 
Mr.  Merrick,  of  Maryland.] 


Extracts  from  testimony  and  proceedings  of 
committee ,  December  17,  1872,  page  29. 

“  Witness.  Oakes  Ames. 

By  Chairman  : 

Question.  And  they  have  continued  to  be 
owners  of  that  stock,  unless  they  have  disposed 
of  it  to  somebody  else? 


12 


Answer.  Yes,  sir;  Mr.  Wilson  disposed  of 
his  some  time  ago. 

The  SPEAKER,  in  connection  with  the  ques¬ 
tion  about  Messrs.  Wilson  and  Allison ,  re¬ 
marked  to  the  committee  that  in  the  Forty -First 
Congress  there  was  an  investigation  in  regard  to 
the  alleged  sale  of  cadetships ,  which  has  led  to 
serious  proceedings  in  the  House ,  and  that  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs ,  which  had  the 
investigation  in  charge ,  acting  on  its  own 
judgment ,  which  teas  afterward  affirmed  in 
some  form  by  the  House ,  decided  that  it  had 
no  power ,  and  that  it  was  out  of  the  pale  of 
propriety  for  it  to  investigate  the  transactions 
of  men  who  had  been  in  Congress ,  but  who  had 
returned  to  civil  life.  He  merely  wanted  to 
make  the  suggestion  to  the  committee . 

All  the  proceedings  before  that  committee 
in  the  Forty  First  Congress  touching  any 
members  of  the  prior  Congress  had  been 
erased  from  the  record,  and  no  report  made 
of  it  to  the  House. 

The  Chairman.  It  is  very  clear  that  we 
cannot  deal  with  Mr.  Wilson  and  Mr.  Allison 
in  any  way,  but  perhaps  we  may  with  Mr.  Ames. 

Witness,  Oakes  A  rnes ;  testimony,  page  339  : 

By  Mr.  Merrick  : 

Question.  Have  you  refreshed  your  mem¬ 
ory  in  relation  to  your  dealings  with  any  other 
members  of  Congress? 

Answer.  There  is  no  other.  ThereasonI 
did  not  name  Mr.  Logan  before  was  that  Mr. 
Blaine  stated  that  this  committee  had  nothing 
to  do  with  Senators .” 

Extract  from  Poland  report,  pages  2  and  3. 

“Mr.  Oakes  Ames  was  then  a  member  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  and  came  to 
Washington  at  the  commencement  of  the  ses¬ 
sion,  about  the  beginning  of  December ,  1867. 
During  that  month  Mr.  Ames  entered  into 
contracts  with  a  considerable  number  of  mem¬ 
bers  of  Congress ,  both  Senators  and  Represent¬ 
atives ,  to  let  them  have  shares  of  stock  in  the 
Credit  Mobilier  Company  at  par ,  with  interest 
thereon  from  the  ls£  day  of  the  previous  July .” 

Extracts  from  report  of  Wilson  committee. 

Amount  of  cash  paid  in  by  subscribers  to 
stock  of  Union  Pacific  railroad,  $409,000. 
(See  Wilson  Report,  page  21.) 

“  4.  The  statute  requiring  the  capital  stock  to 
be  paid  for  in  money  at  par,  it  has  in  fact  been 
paid  at  not  exceeding  thirty  cents  on  the  dol¬ 
lar  in  road-building,  excepting,  perhaps,  the 
sum  of  about  $400,000.” 

Dividends  and  profits  and  corruption  fund. 

(See  Wilson  Report,  pages  13, 14,  15,  16.) 

DAVIS  CONTRACT. 

“This  was  a  contract  made  with  J.  W.  Davis, 
a  man  of  but  little,  if  any,  pecuniary  ability, 
(and  not  expected  to  perform  the  contract,) 
for  the  construction  of  that  part  of  the  road 
beginning  at  the  western  terminus  of  the 
“Ames  contract,”  and  extending  to  the  west¬ 


ern  terminus  of  the  road,  a  distance  of  one 
hundredand  twenty-five  and  twenty-three  hun¬ 
dredths  miles.  It  was  upon  the  same  terms 
as  the  Ames  contract,  and  was  assigned  to  the 
same  board  of  trustees.  Under  it  the  residue" 
of  the  road  was  constructed,  and,  from  a  bal¬ 
ance-sheet  taken  from  the  books  of  the  rail¬ 
road  company,  it  appears  that  it — 

Cost  the  railroad  company . $23,431,768  10 

And,  from  a  balance-sheet  taken  from 
the  books  of  the  trustees,  that  it  cost 
the  contractors . 15,629,633  62 

Profit . $7,802,084  48 


Your  committee  present  the  following  sum¬ 
mary  of  cost  of  this  road  to  the  railroad  com¬ 
pany  and  to  the  contractors,  as  appears  by  the 
books : 

Cost  to  railroad  company. 


Hoxie  contract . $12,974,416  24 

Ames  contract . .  57,140,102  94 

Davis  contract . 23,431,768  10 


Total . . .  93,546,287  28 

Cost  to  contractors. 

Hoxie  contract . $7,806,183  33 

Ames  contract . 27,285,141  99 

Davis  contract .  15,629,633  62 

-  50,720,958  94 


43,825,328  34 

To  this  should  be  added  amount  paid 
Credit  Mobilier  on  account  of  fifty- 


eight  miles .  1,104,000  00 

Total  profit  on  construction . ,$43,925,328  34 


The  balance-sheets,  from  which  the  fore¬ 
going  results  have  been  obtained,  were  made 
out  by  Mr.  Crane  and  Mr.  Ham,  accountants 
familiar  with  the  books  and  with  most  of  the 
transactions.  Your  committee  have  earnestly 
endeavored  to  get  the  exact  cost  of  the  road 
to  the  company  and  to  the  contractors,  and 
if  they  have  failed  it  is  because  those  who 
should  know  and  have  had  the  opportunity  to 
inform  the  committee  have  failed  to  give  the 
information.  The  books  have  been  kept  in 
such  a  way  and  the  transactions  have  been  of 
such  a  character  that  their  true  nature  has 
been  very  much  disguised. 

It  is  a  matter  of  no  little  importance  to  know 
what  the  cash  profits  of  this  construction  have 
been,  and  in  this  connection  the  following 
summary  is  presented  on  that  subject. 

The  attention  of  Mr.  Ham  was  called  to  the 
fact  that  the  balance-sheets  above  alluded  to 
showed  an  aggregate  profit  on  the  Ames  and 
Davis  contracts  of  $37,657,095  43,  and  he 
was  asked  the  question  how  much  of  it  was 
money,  how  much  bonds,  and  how  much  stock. 
His  answer  gave  the  following  exhibit : 


$3,777,000  first-mortgage  bonds,  at  90 .  $3,399,300 

$4,400,000  certificates  for  first-mortgage 
bonds,  afterwards  converted  into  in¬ 
come  bonds,  at . .  . . . .  4,425,000  - 

$5,841,000  income  bonds,  at  60  .  3,486,600 

$24,030,000  stock  Union  Pacific  Railroad 

Company . .  24,000,000 

$2,346,195  cash . 2.346,195 

Total . $37,657,095  w 


13 


From  this  it  will  appear  that  in  making  up 
this  profit  all  the  securities  are  estimated  at 
their  cash  value,  except  the  stock,  which  is 
estimated  at  par. 

This  shows  that  the  profits  on  these  two 
contracts  are — 

Bonds  (cash  value)..... . $11, 310, 900  00 

Twenty-four  million  stock,  at  30 .  7,200,000  00 

Gash .  2,346,000  00 


20,856,900  00 

The  profits  on  the  Hoxie  contract,  as 

before  stated,  were . $6,272,232  71. 

Treating  all  of  this  as  stock,  except  $1,- 
125,000  of  first-mortgage  bonds,  divided 
as  hereinafter  stated,  the  profits,  cash 
values  on  this,  would  be  as  follows  : 


$1,125,000  first-mortgage  bonds,  at  85 .  965,250  00 

$5,147,232  71  stock,  at  30 .  1,544,199  81 

Total  cash  profit . $23,366,319  81 


In  making  this  calculation  the  stock  is  placed 
at  thirty  cents,  because  that  is  the  value  the 
parties  have  placed  on  it. 

If  all  the  profits  made  have  been  divided, 
the  account  should  correspond  with  the  amount 
of  profit  above  stated.  But  it  does  not  cor¬ 
respond,  and  whether  the  failure  to  correspond 
is  attributable  to  inaccuracy  as  to  the  amount 
of  profits  or  to  disguises  in  making  divisions, 
the  House  can  judge  in  some  degree  from  the 
facts  hereinafter  set  forth. 

The  following  are  the  dividends  as  appears 
*in  the  evidence.  First,  by  Credit  Mobilier, 
results  of  Hoxie  contract: 

The  Credit  Mobilier  on  the  — —  day  of  Jan¬ 
uary,  1867,  increased  its  capital  stock  from 
$2,500,000  to  $3,750,000,  and  for  each  $1,000 
of  additional  stock  taken,  there  was  distributed 
to  the  subscriber  a  first-mortgage  bond  of  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad  company  of  $1,000.  In 
this  way  there  was  divided  $1,125,000  in  first- 
mortgage  bonds. 

Then,  on  the - day  of - ,  1867,  there 

was  a  dividend  made  of  twelve  per  cent,  (six 
per  cent,  for  each  of  the  years  1866  and  1867) 
in  stock  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany,  at  thirty  per  cent,  of  its  par  value.  This 
would  amount  to  $1,500,000  stock  par  value. 

These  two  amounts  aggregate  $2,750,000. 

But  the  balance  sheet  shows  a  profit  to  the 
Credit  Mobilier — 

On  the  Hoxie  contract  of. . . $5,168,232  91 

Add  amount  received  on  fifty-eight 


miles.. . . .  1,104,000  00 

Total . . . $6,272,232  91 


This  shows  a  discrepancy  of  $3,522,232  91. 
But  that  the  above  dividends  are  delusive,  and 
are  not  all  that  was  divided,  is  disclosed  by 
*  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Ham,  pages  277-383,  to 
which  attention  is  especially  called. 

Mr.  Ham  was  asked  what  amount  of  profits 
was  made  by  the  Credit  Mobilier  on  the  Hoxie 
contract,  and  what  they  had  received  on  the 


fifty-eight  miles  west  of  the  one  hundreth 
meridian. 

Answer.  The  amount  of  profit  they  have 
received  is  $6,272,232  91. 

After  stating  that  of  this  amount  $1,125,000 
was  divided  in  first-mortgage  bonds,  as  above, 
in  his  further  examination  as  to  the  disposi¬ 
tion  of  this  profit,  (see  pages  377-383,)  it 
appears  that  the  whole  of  the  profit  above 
stated  was  divided. 

So  it  is  apparent  that  much  more  has  been 
distributed  on  account  of  this  Hoxie  contract 
among  these  stockholders  than  what  the  divi¬ 
dend  statements  would  indicate. 

2.  The  following  are  the  dividends,  as  ap¬ 
pears  from  the  books,  that  were  made  out  of 
the  proceeds  of  the  Ames  contract: 


First  dividend  December  12, 1867,  of  sixty  per  cent., 

in  first-mortgage  bonds .  $2,244,000 

Sixty  per  cent,  in  stock  Union  Pacific 

Railroad  Company .  2,244,000 

Second  dividend  January  3,  1868,  of 
twenty  per  cent.,  in  first-mortgage 

bonds . 748,000 

Third  dividend  June  17,  1868,  of  forty 
per  cent.,  stock  Union  Pacific  Railroad  1,500,000 

Sixty  per  cent,  cash . 2,250,000 

Fourth  dividend  July  3, 1868,  first-mort¬ 
gage  bonds .  2.791,500 

Fifth  dividend  July  8, 1868,  in  cash .  1,095,168 

Sixth  dividend  December  29, 1868,  in  stock  7,599,000 


Total .  $20,471,663 

Here,  it  will  be  observed,  is  another  large 
discrepancy  between  the  dividend  account  and 
the  amount  of  profit  made,  as  shown  above. 
Whether  this  difference  has  escaped  under  the 
cover  of  some  fog  into  the  pockets  of  these 
managers,  as  was  obviously  the  case  under  the 
Hoxie  contract,  or  whether  the  books  show  too 
large  a  profit,  your  committee  will  leave  the 
House  to  judge. 

The  Ames  and  Davis  contracts  having  been 
essentially  the  same,  the  accounts  were  so 
kept  that  it  was  difficult  to  separate  them  and 
know  exactly  the  profit  on  either — this  is  the 
testimony  of  Mr.  Ham  and  Mr.  Crane — and  a 
part  of  the  profit  charged  to  this  Ames  con¬ 
tract  may  have  been  divided  under  the  Davis 
contract,  as  it  will  hereafter  be  seen  that  un¬ 
der  that  contract  a  division  was  made  of  largely 
more  than  the  profit  par  value  of  the  stock 
divided. 

NEXT,  THE  DIVISIONS  UNDER  THE  DAVIS  CONTRACT 

The  mode  of  making  divisions  under  this 
contract  was  this  : 

On  the - day  of - ,  1869,  the  trustees  sold  to 

the  stockholders  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany — 

Twenty-seven  hundred  and  fifty  first  mortgage  bonds 

for . $275,000 

Twenty-seven  hundred  and  fifty  land  grant 
bonds  for .  275,000 


Total.... . $550,000 

They  distributed  to  the  persons  to  whom  these 
bonds  were  sold  in  stock  two  and  one  half  times  tho 


14 


amount  of  bonds  purchased,  namely,  stock  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  Company.,,.,. .  $1,375,000 

2.  The  trustees  sold  stockholders  thirty- 

nine  hundred  and  one  income  bonds, 
at  eighty  cents  to  the  dollar,  amount¬ 
ing  to  $ - ,  and  divided  stock  Union 

Pacific  Railroad  Company .  7,802,000 

3.  The  trustees  sold  stockholders  nineteen 

hundred  and  nine  income  bonds  at 
eighty  cents  to  the  dollar,  and  divided 
stock  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany . 3,818,000 

Total  stock . $12,995,000 


This  is  a  division  largely  in  excess  of  the 
profit  on  this  Davis  contract  in  stock,  par 
value,  as  shown  above ;  but,  as  before  indi¬ 
cated,  this  excess  may  have  been  carried  from 
the  Ames  into  the  Davis  contract. 

This  excess,  of  profit  over  the  dividends 
appearing  on  the  books,  in  all  probability  was 
disposed  of  in  some  such  way  as  was  used  in 
the  disposition  of  the  Hoxie  profits. 

Mr.  Ham  having  given  the  amount  of  bonds, 
stock,  and  money  embraced  in  this  $37,657,- 
095  43  profit  on  these  two  contracts  from  the 
books,  is  very  strong  if  not  conclusive  evidence 
that  the  statement  of  profit  is  correct,  and  con¬ 
sequently  that  the  books  do  not  show  all  that 
was  divided,  or  that  there  is  yet  in  the  hands 
of  the  trustees  undivided  profits. 

In  this  connection  the  committee  calls  atten¬ 


tion  to  the  following  facts  : 

First  mortgage  bonds  issued .  $27,213,000  00 

Sold  at  a  discount  of. .  3,494,991  23 

Net  proceeds .  $23,718,008  77 

Government  bonds  issued .  $27,236,512  00 

Sold  at  discount  of .  91,348  72 

$27,145,163  38 

Aggregatenetproceedsof  both  classes..  $50,863,172  05 
Cost  of  whole  road  to  the  contractors...  50,720,958  94 

$142,213  11” 


It  appears,  then,  speaking  in  round  numbers, 
that  the  cost  of  the  road  was  $50,000,000, 
which  cost  was  wholly  reimbursed  by  the  pro¬ 
ceeds  of  the  Government  bonds  and  first  mort¬ 
gage  bonds ;  and  that  from  the  stock,  the 
income  bonds,  and  land  grant  bonds,  the 
builders  received  in  cash  value  at  least 
$23,000,000  as  profit. 

CORRUPTION. 

The  committee  deem  it  proper  here  to  direct 
attention  specifically  and  separately  to  the  fol¬ 
lowing  transactions  in  disbursements  of  por¬ 
tions  of  the  assets  of  this  road,  which  seem  to 
the  committee  to  have  been  wrongful,  and  to 
demand  the  immediate  and  grave  consideration 
of  the  present  directors  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company  and  of  whatever  authority 
may  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  securing  the 
recovery  of  the  property  of  the  company  from 
those  who  are  responsible  for  or  the  recipients 
of  these  illegal  disbursements  : 

1.  One  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand 
dollars  were  paid  C.  S.  Bushnell  on  the  9th 


day  of  March,  1871,  and  denominated  “  special 
legal  expenses,”  which  was  disposed  of  as 
follows : 

First.  To  G.  M.  Dodge  for  services  in  procuring  the 
passage  of  the  act  of  March  3, 1871,  in  relation  to 
transportation  by  said  company  for  the  Govern¬ 


ment . $24,500 

Second.  Amount  paid  by  C.  S.  Bushnell  to 

Thomas  A.  Scott  on  private  account .  19,000 

Third.  Amount  retained  by  C.  S.  Bushnell 
on  his  own  account .  82,500 


$126,000 

Twenty-five  thousand  dollars  were  paid  to  a 
Government  commissioner  to  secure  the  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  a  portion  of  the  road  as  com¬ 
pleted. 

Four  hundred  and  thirty-five  thousand, 
seven  hundred  and  fifty-four  dollars  and 
twenty  one  cents,  designated  as  “  suspense 
account,”  were  allowed  to  T.  C.  Durant,  vice 
president  of  the  company,  which  appear  from 
the  evidence  to  have  been  disbursed  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  passage  of  the  amendatory 
act  of  July,  1864,  of  the  particulars  of  which 
disbursement  the  committee  have  been  unable 
to  obtain  satisfactory  account.” 

Thus  it  appears  that  while  the  amount  of 
cash  invested  was  only  $400,000,  the  first  div¬ 
idend  returned  this  amount  and  more.  So 
that  the  profits  above  this  amount— over 
$43,000,000  in  bonds,  stock,  and  cash  ;  equiv¬ 
alent  at  market  rates,  on  bonds  and  stock  to 
over  $23,000,000 — were  made  without  any 
investment  whatever.  The  amount  shown  to 
have  been  expended  for  corruption  of  Con¬ 
gress  aud  Government  officials  in  1864,  and 
subsequently,  is  more  than  half  a  million  dol¬ 
lars,  a  sum  greater  than  the  whole  cash  capital 
paid  in  yet  there  is  a  large  field  of  corruption 
prior  to  1864,  untouched.” 

[Thus  it  appears  the  amount  invested  was 
$400,000;  the  dividends  within  one  year  in 
stock,  bonds,  and  cash,  $20,471,688;  total 
cash  profits  for  whole  time,  $23,366,319  81. 
The  profits  in  stock,  bonds,  and  cash, 
$43,925,328  34,  all  on  $400,000  invested. 
What  per  cent.  !] 

Oakes  Ames's  letters ,  with  list  of  assignments 
as  given  to  McComb ,  (see  report  of  Poland 
committee}  testimony ,  pp.  4,  5,  6,  and  7.) 

Washington,  January  25,  1868. 
Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  23d  is  at  hand,  in 
which  you  say  Senators  Bayard  and  Fowler 
have  written  you  in  relation  to  their  stock.  I 
have  spoken  to  Fowler  but  not  to  Bayard.  I 
have  never  been  introduced  to  Bayard,  but 
will  see  him  soon.  You  say  I  must  not  put 
too  much  in  one  locality.  I  have  assigned  as 
far  as  I  have  gone  to  four  from  Massachusetts , 
one  from  New  Hampshire,  one  Delaware,  one 
Tennessee,  one  Ohio,  two  Pennsylvania,  one 
Indiana,  one  Maine,  and  I  have  three  to  place, 
which  I  shall  put  where  they  will  do  most  good 
to  us.  I  am  here  on  the  spot,  and  can  better 


15 


judge  where  they  should  go.  I  think  after 
this  dividend  is  paid  we  should  make  our  capi¬ 
tal  to  four  millions,  and  distribute  the  new  stock 
where  it  will  protect  us,  let  them  have  the 

*  stock  at  par,  and  profits  made  in  the  future; 
the  fifty  per  cent,  increase  on  the  old  stock  I 
want  for  distribution  here,  and  soon.  Alley 
is  opposed  to  the  division  of  the  bonds ;  says 
we  will  need  them,  &c.  I  should  think  that 
we  ought  to  be  able  to  spare  them,  with 
Alley  and  Cisco  on  the  Finance  Committee — 
we  used  to  be  able  to  borrow  when  we  had  no 
credit  and  debts  pressing.  We  are  now  out  of 
debt  and  in  good  credit — what  say  you  about 
the  bond  dividend — a  part  of  the  purchasers 
here  are  poor,  and  want  their  bonds  to  sell  to 
enable  them  to  meet  their  payment  on  the 
stock  in  the  C.  M.  I  have  told  them  what  they 
would  get  as  dividend,  and  they  expect,  I  think, 
when  the  bonds  the  parties  receive  as  the 
eighty  per  cent,  dividend,  we  better  give  them 
the  bonds — it  will  not  amount  to  anything  with 
us.  Some  of  the  large  holders  will  not  care 
whether  they  have  the  bonds  or  certificates,  or 
they  will  lend  their  bonds  to  the  company,  as 
they  have  done  before,  or  lend  them  money. 
Quigley  has  been  here,  and  we  have  got  that 
one  tenth  that  was  Underwood’s.  I  have 
taken  half,  Quigley  one  quarter,  and  you  one 
quarter.  J.  Carter  wants  a  part  of  it ;  at  some 
future  day  we  are  to  surrender  a  part  to 
him. 

Yours,  truly, 

4  OAKES  AMES. 

H.  S.  McComb,  esq. 

,  Washington,  January  30,  1868. 

Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  28th  is  at  hand, 
inclosing  copy  of  letter  from,  or  rather  to,  Mr. 

>  King.  I  don't  fear  any  investigation  here. 
What  some  of  Durant's  friends  may  do  in 
New  York  courts  can't  he  counted  upon  with 
any  certainty .  You  do  not  understand  by  your 
letter  what  I  have  done  and  am  to  do  with  my 
8 ales  of  stock.  You  say  none  to  New  York .  I 
have  placed  some  with  New  York ,  or  have 
agreed  to.  You  must  remember  that  it  was 
nearly  all  placed  as  you  saw  it  on  the  list  in 
New  York ,  and  there  was  but  six  or  eight  m. 
for  me  to  place.  I  could  not  give  ail  the  world 
all  they  might  want  out  of  that.  You  would 
not  want  me  to  offer  less  than  one  thousand 
m.  to  any  one.  We  allow  Durant  to  place 
some  fifty- eight  thousand  to  some  three  or  four 
of  his  friends,  or  keep  it  himself. 

I  have  used  this  where  it  will  produce  most 
good  to  us ,  I  think.  In  view  of  King's  letter 
and  Washburne' s  move  here ,  I  go  in  for  mak¬ 
ing  our  bond  dividend  in  full.  We  can  do  it 
with  perfect  safety.  I  understand  the  opposi- 

*  tion  to  it  comes  from  Alley  ;  he  is  on  the 
Finance  Committee,  and  can  raise  money 
easy  if  we  come  short,  which  I  don’t  believe 
we  shall,  and  if  we  do  we  can  loan  our  bonds 

,to  the  company,  or  loan  them  the  money  we 


get  from  the  bonds.  The  contract  calls  for 
the  division,  and  I  say  have  it.  When  shall  1 
see  you  in  Washington? 

Yours,  truly,  OAKES  AMES. 

H.  S.  McComb. 

We  stand  about  like  this  : 


Bonds,  first  mortgage,  received  on  525  miles,  at 

16  m .  $8,400,000 

Bonds,  first  mortgage,  received  on  15 

miles,  at  48  m .  720,000 

Bonds,  first  mortgage,  received  on  100 
miles,  at  48  m .  4,800,000 


13,920,000 

Ten  millions  sold  and  to  sell  to  pay  our 
debts .  10,000,000 


3,920.000 

Eighty  per  cent,  dividend  on  3,700,000 
C.  M.  of  A .  3,000,000 


920,900 

Government  bonds  received  this  day .  960,000 

Due  for  transportation  four  hundred 
m.,  one  half  cash . .  200,000 


$2,080,000 

In  addition  to  this  we  can  draw  Government 
bonds  for  two  thirds  of  the  work  done  in  ad¬ 
vance  of  track,  if  we  desire  it.” 

“Oakes  Ames’  s  list  of  names  as  showed  to-day 
to  me  for  Credit  Mobilier  :  Blaine,  of  Maine, 
3,000;  Patterson,  New  Hampshire,  3,000; 
Wilson,  Massachusetts,  2 ;  Painter,  reporter 
for  Inquirer,  3 ;  S.  Colfax,  Speaker,  2  ;  Elliott, 
Massachusetts,  3  ;  Dawes,  Massachusetts,  2; 
Boutwell,  Massachusetts,  2 ;  Bingham  and  Gar¬ 
field,  Ohio ;  Scofield  and  Kelley,  Pennsyl¬ 
vania;  Fowler,  Tennessee. 

February  1, 1868.” 

Indorsed  on  letter  and  sworn  to  by  McComb. 

Washington,  February  22,  1868. 

Dear  Sir:  Yours  of  the  21st  is  at  hand; 
am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  getting  along  so 
well  with  Mr.  West;  hope  you  will  bring  it 
out  all  satisfactory  so  that  it  will  be  so  rich 
that  we  cannot  help  going  into  it.  I  return 
you  the  paper  by  mail  that  you  ask  for.  You 
ask  me  if  I  will  sell  some  of  my  Union 
Pacific  railroad  stock.  I  will  sell  some  of  it 
at  par  Credit  Mobilier  of  America.  I  don’t 
care  to  sell.  I  hear  that  Mr.  Bates  offered 
his  at  $300,  but  I  don't  want  Bates  to  sell  out. 
I  think  Grimes  may  sell  a  part  of  his  at  $350. 
I  iv ant  that  $14,000  increase  of  the  Credit 
Mobilier  to  sell  here .  We  want  more  friends 
in  this  Congress ,  and  if  a  man  will  look  into 
the  law ,  (and  it  is  difficult  to  get  them  lo  do  it 
unless  they  have  an  interest  to  do  so, )  he  can¬ 
not  help  being  convinced  that  we  should  not  be 
interfered  with.  Hope  to  see  you  here  or  at 
New  York  the  1 1th. 

Yours,  truly,  OAKES  AMES. 

H.  S.  McComb,  esq. 


16 


LAND  GRANTS. 


Recapitulation.— { See  report  of  Commissioner  General  Land  Office  1872,  page  308.) 


States. 

Estimated  quantity 
embraced  in  the 
limits  of  the  grants, 
(acres.) 

Estimated  quantity 
which  the  com¬ 
pany  will  receive 
from  the  grants, 
(acres.) 

Number  of  acres 
certified  or  pat¬ 
ented  under  the 
grants,  (acres.) 

Mississippi . 

Florida . .  . 

Arkansas . . 

Michigan . 

Wisconsin . 

Minnesota . 

K  ansns . 

2,595,053 

2,062.240 

3,579,120 

2,360,114 

1,578,720 

4,878,149.14 

2,985,169,21 

6,795,527.31 

4,712,480.29 

3,758,433.07 

9,913,495.95 

9,370,000 

2,595,053 

1,137,130 

2,708,135 

1,760,467 

669,411.70 

2,753,171 

1,949,175 

4,064,545.11 

3,239,110.75 

3,143.458 

7,507,492.95 

4,297,000 

iiiiii! 

Corporations :  Pacific  Railroads . 

54,588,495.97 

159,689.966 

35.815,149.51 

150,299,966 

24,899,244.95 

3,725,750.85 

Wagon-roa.ds  !  Wisconsin . . 

214,278,461.97 

302,930.96 

221,013.27 

1,168,600 

186,115,115.51 

302,930,96 

221.013 

1,143,600 

23,624,995.80 

302,930.96 

143,816.76 

625,768.41 

Michigan.  . 

Oregon . . . 

Deduct  for  lands  reverted  and  lapsed,  and 
for  lands  declared  forfeited  by  Congress.. 

Total . . . 

215,971,006.20 

6,539,544.55 

187,782,659.47 

4,350,385.75 

29,697,511.93 

4,007,590.73 

209,431,461.65 

183,432,273.72 

25,689,921.20 

Department  of  the  Interior,  WILLIS  DRUMMOND,  Commissioner 

General  Land  Office,  October  26,  1872. 


VALUE  OF  LANDS. 

Circular  of  Jay  Cooke  &  Co. 

The  value  of  land  grants,  the  average  price 
at  which  the  twenty-five  leading  land-grant 
railroads  have  thus  far  sold  their  lands  is 
$7  40  per  acre — the  highest  average  of  any 
grant  being  $13  98,  and  the  lowest  $3  07. 
The  list  is  as  follows: 


Acres  granted 

Land  grant  roads,  per  mile 

of  road. 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana..  3,625 

Burlington  and  Missouri .  1,287 

Illinois  Central . 3,840 

Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph . 3,840 

Chicago,  Rock  Island,  and 

Pacific . 1,613 

Atchison,  Topeka, and  Santa 

Fe . .  6,400 

Flint  and  Pere  Marquette...  7,680 

Southern  Minnesota . 8,960 

Atlantic  and  Pacific .  4,545 

St.  Paul  and  Pacific .  6,400 

Winona  and  St.  Peter .  5,486 

Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City...  3,840 

Minnesota  Central .  1,518 

Cedar  Rapids,  and  Missouri 

river . 4,138 

Jackson,  Lansing,  and  Sag¬ 
inaw . . 4,348 

Dubuque  and  Sioux  City .  4,378 

St.  Paul  and  Sioux  City . 6,834 

Missouri  River,  Fort  Scott, 

and  Gulf . . 

Des  Moines  Valley .  1,879 

Little  Rock  and  Fort  Smith..  8.666 
Marquette  and  Ontonagon ...  6,389 
Lake  Superior  and  Missis¬ 
sippi  . ,10,880 

Union  Pacific . 12,800 

Denver  Pacific . . 9,415 

Kansas  Pacific . .. . 12,800 


Average  price 
per ;  acre  at 
which  8 old. 
$13  98 
11  70 
11  42 
11  00 

7  63 

7  70 
7  18 
7  04 
6  77 

6  50 

7  03 
6  50 
6  33 

6  00 

6  00 
6  00 

5  67 

6  39 
6  00 
5  30 
5  00 


4  88 
4  25 
4  18 
3  07 


With  few  exceptions,  the  average  selling 
price  has  steadily  increased  from  year  to  year. 

THE  RAILROAD  DEBT. 

The  report  from  the  Treasury  Department 
showed  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  debt  of 
these  subsidized  railroads  to  the  Government, 
and  no  public  man  can  be  supposed  ignorant 
of  it.  These  documents  show  that  these  debts 
were  as  follows : 


Date.  Principal. 

July  1, 1865 . $1,258,000 

January  1,  1866 . 3,002,000 

July  1,  1866 . 6,042,000 

January  1,  1867 .  11,002,000 

July  1,1867 . 14,762,000 

January  1,  1868  .  20,714,000 

July  1,  186S .  29,089,000 

January  1, 1869  .  50,097,000 

July  1,  1869 .  58,638,320 

January  1,  1870 . ..  64,135,320 

July  1,  1870 .  61,457,320 

January  1, 1871 .  64,618.832 

July  1,  1871 .  64,618,832 

January  1,  1872 .  64,618,832 

July  1,  1872 .  64,623,512 


Interest. 
$37,740  00 
99,214  36 
235,327  04 
510,206  78 
853,543  75 
994,492  78 
1,314,020  49 
2,176,257  04 
3,455,632  88 
5,018,742  80 
6,949,859  34 
8,933,127  48 
10,621,792  01 
12,512,272  80 
14,447,254  26 


This  last  sum,  with  interest  due  on  interest 
account,  $1,585,613  50,  makes  the  total  sum 
due  the  United  States  $80,656,379  76. 


PACIFIC  RAILROAD  LEGISLATION. 

Extracts  from  debates  and  proceedings  in  the 
Globe  touching  the  Pacific  railroads. 

The  Leavenworth ,  Pawnee,  and  Western 
Branch. 

The  germ  of  the  Pacific  railroad  legislation 
was  the  charter  granted  by  the  pro  slavery 
Legislature  of  Kansas  Territory  in  1855,  for 
the  Leavenworth,  Pawnee,  and  Western  Rail- 


17 


road  Company,  which  afterward  became  the 
Union  Pacific,  eastern  division,  and  is  some¬ 
times  called  the  Denver  Pacific.  It  is  under¬ 
stood  that  this  company  furnished  the  funds 
used  in  Congress  in  1862  to  promote  the  Pacific 
railroad  bill,  that  road  having  been  made  a 
branch.  Detailed  statements  of  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  these  funds  have  been  published,  but 
as  they  are  not  official  they  are  not  included 
here.  (See  New  York  Tribune,  September  28, 
1872.) 

It  was  said  in  that  debate  that  this  road  was  the 
•  ‘  pivot  ’  ’  of  the  bill.  The  length  of  the  branch 
was  not  limited  save  by  the  one  hundredth 
meridian,  and  the  main  stem  (Union  Pacific) 
was  to  begin  where  the  branch  should  end, 

Mr.  Pomeroy,  who  introduced  the  bill  in 
the  Senate,  said  the  friends  of  this  branch  had 
abandoned  two  degrees  of  its  proposed  length 
in  compromise. 

The  circumstances  attending  that  legisla¬ 
tion  of  1862  led  Mr.  Lovejoy  to  say  in  the 
House : 

4  4  Mr.  LOVEJOY.  I  am  for  a  Pacific  railroad, 
although  I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  dislike 
the  idea  of  converting  Congress  into  a  rail 
road  company .  We  are  not  here  as  a  railroad 
corporation (See  Globe,  vol.  47,  p.  1699. 

Speaking  of  the  origin  and  character  of  this 
company  iu  his  speech  on  a  bill  for  its  further 
benefit,  pending  January,  1869,  Mr,  E.  B, 
Washburne,  of  Illinois,  said,  (see  Globe,  vol. 
71,,  pages  463-64 :) 

“  Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  it  is  the 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  eastern  division, 
which  is  the  successor  of  the  Leavenworth, 
Pawnee,  and  Western  Railroad  Company, 
which  was  chartered  by  the  border-ruffian 
Legislature  of  Kansas  Territory  in  1855. 
Among  leading  corporators  are  William.  H. 
Russell,  of  the  Fioyd-Thompson  trust-fund 
defalcation  notoriety  of  $870,009,  and  Judge 
Lecompt,  of  the  infamous  ‘Lecdmpton  con 
stitution  ’  notoriety.  The  company  had  the 
power  to  receive  and  hold  donations  of  bonds 
or  lands  to  be  given  them  by  any  State  or  the 
United  States.  Knowing  the  immense  value 
of  the  trust  lands  of  the  Delaware  tribe  of 
Indians,  through  which  the  railroad  was  to 
pass,  the  company  procured  the  making  and 
ratification  of  an  extraordinary  treaty  in  1860, 
by  which  it  was  provided  that  the  said  corn 
pany  should  have  the  exclusive  authority  to 
purchase  such  of  their  lands  as  were  not  re¬ 
served  and  set  apart  for  special  objects  at  a 
valuation  not  below  the  sum  of  $1  25  per  acre, 
This  land  was  mostly  rich  timber  bottoms,  and 
worth  from  ten  to  fifty  dollars  per  acre.  Being 
thus  chartered,  and  having  obtained  the  extra¬ 
ordinary  privilege  of  purchasing  the  land 
under  the  treaty,  wheu  in  1862  Congress  acted 
upon  the  subject  of  a  Pacific  railroad,  this 
Leavenworth  and  Pawnee  company  had  influ¬ 
ence  enough  to  thrust  the  following  section  in 
the  bill  to  aid  the  construction  of  a  railroad, 


approved  July  1,  1862.  The  ninth  section  of 
that  law  provided : 

‘  That  the  Leavenworth,  Pawnee,  and  West¬ 
ern  Railroad  Company  of  Kansas  are  hereby 
authorized  to  construct  a  railroad  and  telegraph 
line  from  the  Missouri  river,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kansas  river,  on  the  south  side  thereof,  so 
as  to  connect  with  the  Pacific  railroad  of  Mis¬ 
souri,  to  the  aforesaid  point,  on  the  one  hun¬ 
dredth  meridian  of  longitude  west  from  Green¬ 
wich,  as  herein  provided,  upon  the  same  terms 
and  conditions  in  all  respects  as  are  provided 
in  this  act  for  the  construction  of  the  railroad 
and  telegraph  line  first  mentioned,  and  to  meet 
and  connect  with  the  same  at  the  meridian  of 
longitude  aforesaid.’ 

Thus  it  will  be  observed  what  was  done  by 
one  short  section  of  the  law  for  a  private  rail¬ 
road  corporation,  chartered  by  a  border-ruffian 
Legislature,  granting  to  the  said  border-ruf¬ 
fian  company  the  same  privileges;  lands,  and 
bonds  for  a  certain  distance  as  were  granted 
to  the  company  chartered  by  Congress,  reserv¬ 
ing  no  rights  to  the  United  States,  not  even  the 
privilege  of  appointing  commissioners  or  di¬ 
rectors  to  look  after  the  interests  of  the  United 
States,  and  no  such  right  was  had  until  the 
passage  of  the  law  July  8,  1864.  Having  be¬ 
come  tired  of  the  old  border-ruffian  name  of 
the  corporation — the  Leavenworth,  Pawnee, 
and  Western  Railroad  Company — in  1864  Con¬ 
gress  changed  the  name  to  4  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  eastern  division.’  I  have 
no  time  to  go  into  the  extraordinary  and  dis¬ 
reputable  operations  of  this  border-ruffian  rail¬ 
road;  the  litigation,  the  wranglings  and  fights 
of  different  rings  and  companies  who  were  all 
endeavoring  to  enrich  themselves  out  of  these 
stupendous  grants  of  the  people’s  lands  and 
money  to  this  railroad  corporation  ;  the  use  of 
the  United  States  troops  to  drive  off  one  set 
of  claimants  for  the  benefit  of  another,  and 
the  killing  of  Hallet,  the  man  at  whose  instance, 
the  troops  had  been  called  out. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

What  has  this  railroad  company,  which  now 
comes  here  and  asks  us  for  this  additional 
subsidy,  already  received  from  the  Govern¬ 
ment?  It  is  a  startling  exhibit,  and  I  demand 
that  it  shall  be  well  considered  before  this  bill 
passes.  In  the  first  place,  it  subordinated  the 
Government  mortgage  for  $6,303,000  to  ha 
own  mortgage,  and  in  the  second  place  it  has 
received  as  an  actual  subsidy  in  United  States  , 
bonds  the  same  amount  of  $6,303,000.  Now, 
how  much  subsidy  has  it  received  in  land?  IL 
has  received  in  land  subsidy  twenty  miles  on 
each  side  of  the  road,  alternate  sections, 
making  seven  million  six  hundred  and  eighty 
thousand  acres.  ***** 

It  certainly  cannot  be  deemed  extravagant  to 
average  them  at  three  dollars  per  acre,  which  is 
the  average  of  the  price  fixed  by  the  company. 
At  that  price,  therefore,  the  value  of  the  laud 
granted  to  the  company  would  be  $23,240,000.. 


18 


Recapitulation . 

United  States  bonds  subsidy . $6,303,000 

Land  subsidy,  worth . 23,240,000 

Privilege  of  subordinating  first  mortgage 

bonds . : .  6,303,000 

Total  aid . $35,846,000 

This  amount  of  $35,846,000  is  what  this 

company  has  received  for  building  a  railroad 
four  hundred  miles  in  length  which  is  repre¬ 
sented  as  being  one  of  the  easiest  and  cheap¬ 
est  ever  constructed  in  America,  and  which  is 
equal  to  $89,615  per  mile.  Putting  the  cost 
of  the  road  at  the- highest  possible  estimate, 
$30,000  per  mile,  it  would  leave  a  net  profit 
to  the  company  of  $59,615  per  mile,  which 
for  four  hundred  miles  would  give  to  the  com¬ 
pany  $23,846,000;  or,  in  other  words,  the 
company  will  have  its  road  built  by  the  Gov¬ 
ernment,  and  the  land  subsidy,  worth  between 
twenty-three  and  twenty-four  million  dollars, 
thrown  ia.,f 

The  act  of  1862  was  overloaded  with 
branches,  receiving  subsidies  in  lands  and 
bonds  which  were  not  needed  to  secure  the 
roads,  and  herein  consisted  the  abuses  of  that 
act.  These  branches  extended  into  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  and  Iowa,  (with  branches  of  branches 
crossing  the  States.)  Out  of  one  of  these  Iowa 
branches  grew  the  Sioux  City  Pacific,  which 
was  diverted  from  extending  westward  from 
Sioux  City  across  Nebraska  to  aline  running 
southeast  down  the  Missouri  river,  and  Gov¬ 
ernment  lands  and  bonds  were  taken  on  that 
line. 

Speaking  of  these  branches  in  1862,  Mr. 
Lovejoy  said.  (See  Globe,  vol.  47,  page  1700.) 

“Mr.  LOVEJOY.  We  propose  to  give 
$67,000,000  or  $100,000,000  for  this  enter¬ 
prise,  the  main  trunk  to  receive  not  over 
$50,000,000  ;  but  when  we  come  to  trace  up  the 
side  roads  and  branches  you  find  $17,000,000 
more  stowed  away  in  these  roads  to  which  we 
ought  not  to  give  one  cent.” 

Mr.  Morrill,  of  Vermont,  moved  an  amend¬ 
ment  to  require  that  $10,000,000  cash  capital 
. ;be  paid  m,  but  it  was  defeated.  The  result 
ids  (that  speculators  have  operated  on  Govern¬ 
ment  subsidies,  spending  more  money  in  cor- 
i  ruption  than  they  have  invested  in  the  road. 

THE  ACT  OF  1864. 

'But  the  great  wrongs  began  in  the  act  of 
;  X;86,4,  which  dou  bled  the  land  grants,  abandoned 
the  Government  security  by  enabling  the  com¬ 
panies  ito  place  prior  mortgage,  and  provided 
■equal  amounts  that  only  half  the  earnings  on 
Government  freights  should  be  applied  on  in¬ 
terest  due  the  United  States. 

The  time  fixed  for  the  completion  of  the 
roads  was  passing.  The  Union  Pacific  was 
scarcely  begun.  They  claimed  that  eighty  mile3 
of  the  eastern  division  were  graded  and  twenty 
miles  in  running  order.  They  also  claimed 
to  have  $2,698*000  of  stock  subscribed  and 
.$200, 000 paid  Aa,  and  to  have  expended  $300,- 


000.  On  this  subject  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne, 
said,  (see  Globe,  vol.  53,  p.  3151:) 

“Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  It  must 
be  understood  that  under  the  existing  law 
parties  who  have  subscribed  for  $1,001,000 
worth  of  stock  (the  whole  amount  subscribed 
being  only  $2,000,000)  can  control  the  whole 
concern.  While  the  Government  is  liable  for 
nearly  $100,000,000,  and  has  donated  millions 
upon  millions  of  acres  of  public  land  to  this 
great  work,  yet  this  entire  organization  has 
gone  into  the  hands  of  parties  who  have  put  in 
but  a  trifle  over  one  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
amount  that  the  Government  is  liable  for.” 

It  was  charged  by  the  Washburns  in  1868, 
and  we  know  now  that  corrupt  means  were 
used  to  pass  this  bill.  (See  extracts  from  Wil 
son’s  report  herewith.) 

During  the  debate  in  1864,  Mr.  E.  B,  Wash- 
burne  said,  (see  vol.  53,  p.  351:) 

“  Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  Who  are 
the  men  who  are  here  to  lobby  this  bill  through  ? 
Have  the  men  of  high  character  and  of  national 
reputation  whose  names  were  at  an  earlier 
period  connected  with  this  enterprise  been 
here,  animated  by  a  commendable  public  spirit  , 
by  motives  of  patriotism,  to  ask  us  to  pass  this 
bill  ?  I  have  not  heard  of  such  men  being 
here  for  that  purpose,  but  on  the  other  hand, 
the  work  of  *  putting  the  bill  through  ’  has 
gone  into  the  hands  of  such  men  as  Samuel 
Hallett  and  George  Francis  Train,  par  nobile 
fratrum .” 

Speaking  of  the  passage  of  this  act  of  1864, 
Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne  said  in  1868,  (see  Globe, 
vol.  67,  p.  2135 :) 

“Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  Thecon- 
sideration  of  the  bill  was  again  resumed  in  the 
evening  session  of  June  21 ,  1864,  and  no  gentle¬ 
man  who  was  here  at  that  time  will  ever  forget 
the  extraordinary  scene  which  was  presented. 

The  lobby  mastered  in  its  full  force.  1  say 
nothing  of  the  shameful  means  which  it  is 
alleged  were  used  in  a  ‘confidential  way’  to 
carry  through  this  bill ;  but  I  do  say  that  the 
scene  was  one  of  the  most  excitiog  and  ani¬ 
mated  that  I  have  ever  witnessed  in  a  service 
of  nearly  sixteen  years. 

The  galleries  were  packed  with  people  in¬ 
terested  in  the  measure,  by  lobbyist  male  and 
female,  and  by  shysters  and  adventurers. 

Your  gilded  corridors  were  filled  with  lob¬ 
byists  who  broke  through  all  rules  and  made 
their  way  upon  the  floor  and  into  the  seats  of 
members.” 

Mr.  C.  C.  Washburn,  in  his  speech  of  March 
20,  1868,  (see  Globe,  vol.  69,  p.  297,)  said  : 

“Mr.  WASHBURN,  ofWisconsin.  I  believe 
I  state  nothing  more  than  what  is  notorious 
when  I  say  that  the  vice  president  of  that  road 
has  charged  the  company  with  $500,000  as 
having  been  expended  in  Washington  to  secure 
the  passage  of  that  act,  claiming  that  the  money 
was  expended  in  a  confidential  way,  and  de¬ 
clining  to  furnish  any  vouchers. 


19 


Mr.  PRICE.  The  gentleman  is  referring  to 
the  first  act. 

Mr.  WASHBURN,  of  Wisconsin.  No,  sir; 
the  act  of  1864.” 

And  he  proceeded  to  say  that  this  act  voted 
away  $60,000,000  of  the  people’s  money,  yet 
its  opponents  were  denied  the  yeas  and  nays 
on  adoption  of  the  conference  report  which 
passed  the  bill. 

Under  such  influences  this  act  was  passed. 
Mr.  Holman,  of  Indiana,  opposed  it,  object¬ 
ing  to  the  provision  requiring  the  Government 
to  pay  for  transportation.  He  said  : 

4 4  Mr.  HOLMAN.  It  is  the  settled  policy 
that  corporations  receiving  these  grants  shall 
make  transportation  without  charge  to  the 
Government.” 

He  moved  an  amendment  to  this  effect, 
which  was  defeated  June  22, 1864.  (See  Globe, 
vol.  53,  p.  3156.) 

The  vote  stood — yeas  39,  (among  whom 
were  Messrs.  Eldredge,  Holman,  Orth,  Ran¬ 
dall,  and  E.  B.  Washburne;)  nays  82,  (among 
whom  were  Messrs.  Alley,  Allison,  Ames, 
Arnold,  Boutwell,  Brooks,  Dawes,  Eliot,  Gar¬ 
field,  Hooper,  Kelley,  and  Wilson  ;)  not  voting 
61,  (among  whom  were  Messrs.  Blaine,  Cox, 
Scofield,  Yoorhees,  and  Fernando  Wood.) 

Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne  made  vigorous  oppo¬ 
sition,  especially  to  postponing  the  Govern¬ 
ment  lien.  On  this  point  he  said,  (see 
Globe,  vol.  53,  p,  3152:) 

44 Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  come 
now  to  the  tenth  section  of  the  bill,  and  I  confess 
to  a  sort  of  admiration  of  the  sublime  audacity 
which  parties  must  have  to  come  here  and  ask 
Congress  to  enact  such  a  provision  into  a  law. 

I  have  called  attention  to  other  provisions 
of  an  extraordinary  nature,  but  this  proposed 
enactment  throws  all  others  far  into  the  shade, 
and  stands  out  in  bold  relief  as  an  indication  of 
the  4base  uses’  that  this  company  have  conceived 
that  Congress  may  be  put  to  in  their  behalf.  I 
carefully  read  the  section,  that  every  gentleman 
may  know  its  exact  meaning  and  purport : 

Sec.  10.  And  be  it  further  enacted ,  That 
section  five  of  said  act  be  so  modified  and 
amended  that  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany,  and  any  other  company  authorized  to 
participate  in  the  construction  of  said  road, 
may  issue  their  first  mortgage  bonds  on  their 
respective  railroads  and  telegraph  lines  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  the  amount  of  the  bonds 
of  the  United  States  authorized  to  be  issued  to 
said  railroad  companies  respectively.  And 
the  lien  of  the  United  States  bonds  shall  be  sub¬ 
ordinate  to  that  of  the  bonds  of  any  or  either  of 
said  companies  hereby  authorized  to  be  issued 
on  their  respective  roads,  property,  and  equip¬ 
ments.  And  said  section  is  further  amended 
by  striking  out  the  word  4  forty’  and  inserting 
in  lieu  thereof  the  words  4  on  each  and  every 
section  of  not  less  than  twenty.’ 

Now,  it  will  be  recollected  that  the  fifth 
section  of  the  existing  law  provides  for  the 


repayment  of  the  bonds  issued  to  the  com* 
pany,  and  declares  that  the  issue  and  delivery 
of  them  to  the  company  shall  ipso  facto  con¬ 
stitute  a  first  mortgage  on  the  whole  line  of 
road  and  telegraph,  together  with  the  rolling* 
stock.  This  was  the  security  which  Congress 
had  a  right  to  demand  of  any  company  that 
should  be  organized.  It  was  its  duty  to  require 
it  unless  it  was  intended  to  surrender  up  every¬ 
thing  and  place  the  most  gigantic  interests  at 
the  feet  of  the  company,  without  control  and 
without  challenge.  We  donated,  as  I  have 
before  stated,  millions  upon  millions  of  acres 
of  the  public  lands  to  the  company  for  this 
purpose,  then  we  agreed  to  give  our  bonds  for 
the  amount,  with  the  interest  thereon,  of 
$96,000,000,  and  if  Congress  had  required  less 
than  a  first  mortgage  as  its  security  it  would, 
in  my  judgment,  have  been  derelict  in  its  duty 
to  the  country,  whose  interests  in  this  regard  it 
can  alone  protect. 

What  is  now  proposed  by  this  amendment  ? 
I  demand  that  gentlemen  shall  look  at  it;  let 
the  mirror  be  held  up  to  nature.  Nothing  less 
than  the  Government,  with  its  liability  of  a 
hundred  millions,  shall  relinquish  its  first 
mortgage  and  subordinate  its  lien  to  the  leius 
of  all  the  companies  created  for  building  the 
road.  The  bonds  of  the  United  States  are  to 
be  issued  to  the  company,  and  the  Govern¬ 
ment  is  to  have  no  prior  lien  for  its  security  ; 
but  by  this  provision  the  company,  represent¬ 
ing  as  it  may  but  one  per  cent,  or  a  little  over 
of  the  amount  that  the  Government  is  liable 
for,  is  to  subordinate  that  Government  to  its 
own  interests,  raise  money  on  the  means  that 
the  Government  has  furnished,  give  a  first 
mortgage  for  the  security  of  that  money,  and 
leave  the  United  States  as  a  second  mortgagee, 
obliged  to  pay  off  the  first  mortgage  before  it 
can  be  in  a  position  to  take  advantage  of  any 
security  there  might  by  possibility  be  as  a  sec¬ 
ond  mortgagee.  But  who  is  wild  enough  to 
believe  that  should  the  provisions  of  this  sec¬ 
tion  become  a  law  the  remaining  security  of 
the  Government  will  be  worth  a  straw? 

It  is  worse  than  idle  to  contend  that  we 
shall  have  any  security  left  for  all  our  liability 
if  this  bill  shall  pass.  And  further,  by  the 
fifth  section  of  the  law  bonds  cannot  be  issued 
till  forty  consecutive  miles  of  the  road  are 
fully  completed  and  equipped.  It  is  now  pro¬ 
posed  by  this  tenth  section  to  strike  out  forty 
and  make  it  twenty.  This  company*  not  con¬ 
tent  with  snatching  from  the  Government  the 
security  it  now  holds  for  the  bonds  it  issues, 
cannot  even  wait  to  finish  the  forty  miles  of 
road  at  present  required  before  grabbing  what 
is  proposed  to  put  into  their  hands,  but  they 
must  cut  it  down  so  they  can  go  in  on  twenty 
miles.  Sir,  on  my  responsibility  as  a  Repre¬ 
sentative  I  pronounce  this  as  the  most  mon¬ 
strous  and  flagrant  attempt  to  overreach  the 
Government  and  the  people  that  can  be  founds 
in  all  the  legislative  annajs  of  the  country? 
When  we  look  at  the  original  law  with  all  its. 


20 


liberal  and  just  provisions,  when  we  look  at 
the  company  organized  under  it  and  see  how 
far  it  has  failed  to  meet  its  proper  obligations, 
and  consider  the  extraordinary  amendments 
here  proposed,  are  we  not  filled  with  astonish¬ 
ment  at  what  is  demanded  of  us  as  the  guard¬ 
ians  of  the  people’s  rights?  Indeed,  may  we 
now  exclaim : 

*  Gan  such  things  be. 

And  overcome  us  like  a  summer's  cloud. 
Without  our  special  wonder?' 

I  warn  the  true  friends  of  the  road,  I  warn 
Congress  and  the  people  what  will  be  the 
result.  The  present  directors  of  the  company 
hold  for  three  years,  and  the  whole  business 
of  the  directors  is  done  by  an  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  board,  who  hold  for  the  same 
time.  The  real  state  of  the  case  seems  to  be 
that  the  executi  ve  committee  is  the  board  of 
directors,  and  one  man  is  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee.” 

The  vote  on  the  motion  of  Mr.  E.  Wash- 
burne,  to  strike  out  this  tenth  section  subor- 
dinatingthe  Government  lien,  was  taken  June 
24,  1864.  (Globe,  voL  52,  p.  3244.) 

The  yeas  were  38,  nays  81,  not  voting  63. 
Among  the  yeas  were  Messrs.  Boutwell,  Farns¬ 
worth,  Holman,  Orth,  Scofield,  Spalding,  and 
E.  B.  Washburn e. 

Among  the  nays,  Messrs.  Allison,  Ames, 
Blaine,  Broqks,  Dawes,  Eliot,  Kelley,  and 
Wilson, 

Among  those  not  voting,  .Messrs.  Alley, 
Garfield,  and  Hooper. 

The  final  vote  on  the  passage  of  the  bill  was 
taken  June  25,  1864,  (see  Globe,  vol.  53,  p. 
3267.)  and  resulted,  yeas  70,  nays  38,  not 
voting,  74. 

Among  the  yeas  were  Messrs  Allison,  Ames, 
Blaine,  Brooks,  Dawes,  Eliot,  Garfield,  Hoop¬ 
er,  and  Wilson. 

Among  the  nays,  Messrs.  Boutwell  Hol¬ 
man,  Orth,  Scofieid,  and  E.  B.  Washburne. 

Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Alley, 
Cox,  Eldredge,  Farnsworth,  Kelley,  Randall, 
and  Voorhees. 

The  bill  returned  to  the  Senate,  and  finally 
passed  on  a  conference  report,  which  was  not 
printed,  the  call  of  E.  B.  Washburne  for  the 
yeas  and  nays  being  refused.  (See  Giobe, 
voi.  53,  p.  3481.) 

Extracts  from  the  debate  and  proceedings  in 
the  House  of  Representatives ,  December  16 
and  17,  1867,  on  Mr.  Dawes' s  resolution  to 
change  the  time  of  meeting  of  the  stock¬ 
holders  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Coni' 
pany,  and  to  enable  them  to  change  the  place 
of  meeting ,  introduced  and  passed  the  Ho  use 
December  16,  1867.  (Globe,  vol.  65,  pp. 
211-212.) 

“Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  desire 
to  add  to  the  resolution  the  following  proviso  : 

Provided ,  That  hereafter  the  said  railroad 
company  shall  not  be  allowed  to  charge  and 
receive  for  freight  or  passage  over  tl>*  *aid 


road  more  than  double  the  amount  which  shall 
be  charged  on  the  principal  lines  of  railroads 
between  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic 

coast. 

1  presume  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
[Mr.  Dawes]  will  not  object  to  that. 

Mr,  DAWES.  I  do  not  desire  to  have 
attached  so  important  a  provision  as  that  upon 
this  simple  resolution  in  reference  to  the 
choosing  of  the  officers  of  this  road. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  shall 
continue  to  press  this  matter  upon  Congress 
while  I  have  a  seat  here,  until  Congress  shall 
adopt  the  provision  I  have  read,  and  I  think 
I  can  convince  the  House  that  there  is  no  more 
just  provision  than  the  one  I  have  proposed ; 
and  I  am  surprised  that  my  friend  from  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  [Mr.  Dawes]  should  stand  here  and 
oppose  it.  I  would  ask  my  friend  whether  he 
knows  that  this  company,  whose  road  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  is  building  by  its  enormous  subsidies 
of  $95,000,000  and  some  forty  million  acres 
of  land,  the  company  getting  the  road  without 
the  expenditure  of  a  single  dollar  of  its  own 
money,  is  charging  ten  cents  a  mile  for  every 
passenger,  and  on  freight  one  cent  per  mile  on 
every  hundred  pounds,  more  enormous  charges 
than  have  ever  been  known  in  any  country? 
I  think  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Representatives  of 
the  people,  unless  they  intend  to  become  a  party 
to  this  monopoly,  to  step  in  at  the  earliest 
moment  and  put  a  stop  to  this  system  of 
exorbitant  charges. 

Mr.  DAWES.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  wish  to  state, 
in  reply  to  what  the  gentleman  from  Illinois 
has  said,  by  way  of  justification  of  my  asking 
the  House  to  pass  this  resolution,  that  he 
knows  me  well  enough  to  know  if  I  ever  failed 
to  cooperate  with  him  in  any  opposition  he 
makes  to  any  appropriation  of  laud  or  money 
it  is  because  he  not  only  opposes  such  meas¬ 
ures  in  season  but  sometimes  he  opposes  them 
out  of  season.  It  is  only  then,  sir,  that  I  fail 
to  cooperate  with  him.  I  know  very  well  the 
gentleman’s  position  on  land  grants,  and  almost 
always  go  with  him  ;  but  why  does  he  bring 
that  in  here  in  connection  with  this  simple 
proposition  to  allow  these  stockholders  to 
change  the  place  of  annual  meeting?  It  is  a 
privilege  accorded  to  every  corporation. 

Mr.  HARDING.  Where  do  they  meet  now  ? 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  will  tell  the  gentleman  all 
about  that.  They  are  required  to  meet  in  the 
city  of  New  York  and  nowhere  else,  and  on  a 
particular  day  in  October.  They  want  the 
privilege  to  hold  their  annual  meeting  in  the 
spring  instead  of  iu  the  fall,  and  to  designate 
at  one  meeting  where  they  will  assemble  at  the 
next  within  certain  limits ;  that  is,  within  five 
places  named. 

Mr.  GARFIELD.  I  desire  to  make  an 
inquiry  of  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
[Mr.  Dawes.]  I  understand  that  there  has 
been  a  serious  dilference,  not  to  use  a  harsher 
term — perhaps  we  ought  to  call  it  a  very  severe 
quarrel — in  the  board  of  directors  in  reference 


21 


to  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  this  rail¬ 
road;  as  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts 
suggests,  it  might  well  be  called  the  4  recent 
unpleasantness  ’  in  connection  with  this  road. 
I  desire  to  know  whether  the  proposition  here 
offered  has  any  relation  to  that  quarrel  and 
makes  us  in  any  way  a  party  to  it— whether  we 
take  sides  with  either  party  to  that  quarrel? 
I  would  be  glad  to  know  that  before  I  am 
called  on  to  vote  on  it. 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  am  frank  to  say  that  I 
know  nothing  about  this  quarrel,  and  1  do  not 
represent  any  one  party.  But  i  do  not  see 
how  this  can  affect  it  at  all.  It  simply  changes 
the  time  and  fixes  the  place  for  holding  the 
next  annual  meeting.  That  is  all. 

Mr.  GARFIELD.  That  change  of  time 
may  get  one  party  out  of  power  and  the  other 
in.  That  is  the  only  point  that  I  raise. 

Mr.  DAWE3.  I  move  to  suspend  the  rules 
to  enable  me  to  introduce  the  joint  resolution.’  ’ 

The  resolution  having  passed  the  House  was 
returned  from  the  Senate  with  amendments ,  and 
its  consideration  was  resumed  by  the  House 
December  17,  1867.  (See  Globe,  vol.  65,  pp, 
232,  233.) 

“union  pacific  railroad. 

“The  next  business  on  the  Speaker’s  table 
was  an  amendment  of  the  Senate  to  the  joint 
resolution  of  the  House  No.  126,  changing  the 
time  of  holding  the  annua!  meeting  of  the 
stockholders  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
Company. 

The  amendment  of  the  Senate  was  to  add 
to  the  joint  resolution  the  following  : 

And  provided  f  urther ,  That  on  the  election 
of  directors  herein  provided  for,  to  take  place 
in  March,  A.  D.  1868,  the  terms  of  office  of 
the  persons  then  acting,  or  claiming  the  right 
to  act  as  directors  of  said  company,  shall  cease 
and  determine. 

Mr.  DAWES.  That  amendment  is  merely 
expressing  what  of  course  would  be  the  legal 
effect  of  the  joint  resolution  without  it.  1  move 
that  the  amendment  be  concurred  in  :  and  upon 
that  motion  1  call  for  the  previous  question. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Will  the  gentleman  from 
Massachusetts  [Mr.  Dawes]  allow  me  a  few 
moments? 

Mr.  DAWES.  Certainly. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  1  think  this  subject  should 
be  referred  to  the  Committee  on  she  Pacific 
Railroad.  It  seems  we  have  already  passed 
this  joint  resolution  through  this  House,  But 
it  has  not  undergone  any  investigation  or  dis¬ 
cussion  here,  and  we  know  nothing  definite  in 
regard  to  it.  1  protest  against  the  passing  of 
this  class  of  measures  without  even  having 
them  printed. 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  totally  uninterested 
in  this  matter;  no  human  being  can  have  less 
personal  interest  in  it  than  I  have.  1  take  an 
enlarged  view,  I  think,  in  regard  to  this  par¬ 
ticular  road.  But  behind  the  proposition  now 
presented  is  a  private  quarrel.  It  is  full  of 
meaning,  and  the  House  will  discover  it  to  be 


so.  In  view  of  such  circumstances  it  is  not 
wise  for  U3  to  pass  a  bill  of  this  kind  without 
printing  it  and  giving  members  an  opportunity 
to  read  it.  To  do  so  is  most  hasty  and  most 
dangerous  legislation. 

The  ^chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Pacific  Railroad  [Mr.  Price]  is  a  gentleman 
upon  whom  we  can  all  rely  in  reference  to 
questions  of  'this  kind.  To  him  and  to  that 
committee,  made  up  from  the  ruling  majority 
of  this  House,  the  custody  of  a  bill  of  this 
character  belongs ;  and  to  that  committee  it 
should  be  intrusted.  I  appeal  to  the  House, 
without  any  special  reference  to  this  particu¬ 
lar  question,  not  to  legislate  in  this  way;  not 
to  pass  a  bill  of  this  importance  without  its 
being  printed,  without  a  reference  to  a  com¬ 
mittees  and  with  no  proper  comprehension  of 
the  measure  on  the  part  of  members. 

In  this  private  quarrel  that  exists  in  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  I  mean  to 
take  no  part  whatever.  My  interest,  my  de¬ 
sire  is,  that  the  great.  Pacific  railroad  shall  be 
built  as  soon  as  possible;  and  it  is  the  interest 
of  alt  parties  who  are  concerned  in  that  road 
to  build  it  in  amity  and  in  harmony  without 
the  introduction  of  any  more  bills  upon  th ia 
floor.  These  are  opinions  which  I  submit  to 
the  consideration  of  this  House  as  the  result 
of  twenty  years  of  legislative  experience.  The 
hasty  passage  of  this  bill  in  this  House,  the 
amendment  of  the  Senate  which  has  been 
adopted  to  maije  this  a  legal  bill— -an  amend¬ 
ment  which  the  introducer  of  the  bill  confesses 
to  be  necessary  for  a  full  understanding  of  the 
bill — the  hurried  passage  of  the  bill  in  the  Sen¬ 
ate  ;  these  things  exhibit  a  hasty  method  of 
legislation  which  should  not  be  adopted.  I 
submit  to  the  understanding  of  the  House  that, 
by  all  the  proper  precedents  of  legislation,  a 
biH  of  this  kind  ought  to  go  to  a  committee 
for  deliberate  examination  before  it  can  be 
appropriately  discussed  and  acted  on  by  the 
House. 

Mr.  DAWES.  Mr.  Speaker,  the  gentle¬ 
man  from  New  York  [Mr,  Brooks]  has  mis¬ 
understood  me  if  he  supposed  that  i  acknowl¬ 
edged  this  amendment  to  be  necessary.  On 
the  contrary,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  merest 
surplusage  in  the  world,  when  we  have  pro¬ 
vided  for  a  meeting  in  March  to  elect  directors 
of  this  road,  to  add  to  that  provision  a  declara¬ 
tion  that  when  electors  shall  have  been  thus 
elected  the  present  directors  shall  cease  to  act. 

This  bill  went  to  the  Senate  Committee  on 
the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  was  unanimously 
reported  back.  I  do  not  understand  the  chair¬ 
man  of  the  House  committee  on  this  subject 
as  expressing  the  slightest  dissent  to  this  propo¬ 
sition.  I  yesterday  stated  to  the  House  why 
this  measure  was  introduced  for  action  with¬ 
out  formal  reference  to  that  committee, 
although  I  had  taken  the  pains  to  submit  it 
to  the  committee  informally.  The  sole  object 
was  to  enable  the  stockholders  to  obtain  this 
legislation  before  the  recess.  This  amend- 


22 


raent  of  the  Senate  being  mere  surplusage, 
the  chairman  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
mittee  not  asking  the  reference  of  the  subject, 
it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  idle  to  refer  it  to 
that  committee. 

I  entirely  agree  with  the  gentleman  from 
New  York  that  we  should  not  interfere  in 
any  quarrel  in  the  board  of  directors  in  this 
company.  I  am  entirely  ignorant  of  the  quar¬ 
rel  or  of  the  parties  to  it.  I  look  upon  the 
Pacific  railroad  as  one  of  the  greatest  enter¬ 
prises  in  which  this  Government  is  engaged, 
an  enterprise  in  which  are  wrapped  up  the 
greatest  interests  of  the  country;  and  I  would 
contribute,  so  far  as  may  be  in  my  power,  to 
promoting  the  speedy  completion  of  that  road. 
I  am  acting  here  in  no  man’s  and  no  com¬ 
pany’s  private  interest.  As  these  parties  want 
to  change  the  time  of  holding  their  annual 
meeting,  and  as  I  can  see  nothing  objection¬ 
able  in  the  proposition,  I  merely  ask  this 
House  to  provide  for  that  object  in  the  simplest 
manner  possible.  A  reference  of  this  bill  to 
the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  when 
that  committee  does  not  ask  it,  would  be  simply 
postponing  this  legislation  till  after  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  new  year.  I  do  not  think,  Mr. 
Speaker,  that  any  one  asking  the  passage  of 
this  bill  has  at  heart  any  purpose  hostile  to 
the  interests  of  this  road,  or  desires  thi3  Con¬ 
gress  to  take  part  in  anybody’s  quarrel.  Of 
course  if  the  bill  passes  it  will  have  the  legal 
effect  set  forth  in.  the  amendment  of  the  Sen¬ 
ate.  The  bill  has  been  unanimously  reported 
by  the  committee  of  the  Senate,  and  has  passed 
in  that  body  without  a  dissenting  voice.  I  call 
the  previous  question. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  Will  the 
gentleman  permit  me  to  ask  a  question  ? 

Mr.  DAWES.  Certainlv. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  ask  the 
gentleman  whether  there  is  a  quarrel  between 
two  sets  of  directors,  and  whether  this  is  not 
in  the  interest  of  one  set  of  directors? 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  will  answer  that  when  I 
came  in  with  this  resolution  yesterday  I  did 
not  know  that  fact.  I  have  no  communication 
with  any  set  of  directors.  I  told  the  House 
then  frankly  all  I  knew  about  this  subject.  I 
never  heard  of  a  corporation  before  that  had 
not  the  power  in  and  of  itself  to  change  the 
time  for  holding  its  annual  meeting.  It  was 
proper  in  the  organic  act  to  fix  some  time.  I 
have  no  doubt  the  stockholders  will  designate 
the  proper  time. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Is  it  settled  who  are  the 
stockholders  of  the  Pacific  railroad?  Is  it 
known  who  they  are? 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  am  told  since  I  came  here 
that  there  has  been  a  difficulty  about  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  directors,  and  that  makes  it  necessary 
to  have  a  provision  for  calling  another  meet¬ 
ing  in  March  next,  so  the  stockholders  can 
meet  and  settle  it.  With  whom  can  it  be 
more  safely  trusted?  With  whom  shall  we 
trust  the  question  who  shall  be  the  directors 


better  than  the  stockholders  themselves  ?  And 
here  is  a  promulgation  to  every  stockholder  in 
the  wide  country  of  this  meeting  for  the  elec¬ 
tion  of  directors.  What  can  be  fairer  than 
that?  I  have  no  interest  with  one  side  or  the 
other. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  The  gentleman  has  not 
answered  my  question. 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  will  if  I  can. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  Who  are  the  stockholders  ? 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  do  not  know  ;  I  am  not 
one.  I  do  not  own  a  fourpenny  in  any  rail¬ 
road  in  the  world,  and  therefore  am  poor  as  a 
church  mouse.  I  hope  my  friend  is  not  so 
poor. 

Mr.  BROOKS.  I  am  not  as  poor  as  a  church 
mouse.  There  are  $150,000,000  of  stock  in  this 
road,  and  only  $5,000,000  of  stock  have  been 
paid  in,  and  here  is  a  large  margin  for  litiga¬ 
tion  in  the  courts  as  to  who  are  directors.  Who 
are  the  stockholders  ? 

Mr.  DAWES.  I  will  answer  in  the  words 
of  the  friend  before  me,  that  the  stockholders 
are  those  who  hold  the  stock.  [Laughter.]  I 
demand  the  previous  question. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  called  for 
fellers. 

Tellers  were  ordered ;  and  Mr.  Dawes  and 
Mr.  Brooks  were  appointed. 

Mr.  GARFIELD  called  for  the  reading  of 
the  twenty-ninth  rule. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

‘  29.  No  member  shall  vote  on  any  question 
in  the  event  of  which  he  is  immediately  and 
particularly  interested.’ 

Barclay’s  Digest  adds: 

‘As  to  what  the  iuterest  here  alluded  to  is, 
the  true  construction  doubtless  is  it  shall  be  a 
direct  personal  interest  or  pecuniary  one.’ 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  Read  the 
one  hundred  and  thirty-fourth  rule. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

‘  134.  No  person  except  members  of  the 
Senate,  their  Secretary,  heads  of  Depart¬ 
ments,  the  President’s  Private  Secretary,  for¬ 
eign  ministers,  the  Governor  for  the  time  be¬ 
ing  of  any  State,  Senators  and  Representatives* 
elect,  and  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  Court  of  Claims,  and 
such  persons  as  have  by  name  received  the 
thanks  of  Congress,  shall  be  admitted  within 
the  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  or 
any  of  the  rooms  on  the  same  floor  or  leading 
into  the  same:  Provided ,  Ex-members  of 
Congress  not  interested  in  any  claim  pending 
before  Congress,  and  shall  so  register  them¬ 
selves,  may  also  be  admitted  within  the  Hall 
of  the  House ;  but  no  person  except  those 
herein  specified  shall  at  any  time  be  admitted 
to  the  floor  of  the  House.’ 

The  House  divided ;  and  the  tellers  report¬ 
ed — ayes  G7,  noes  58. 

So  the  previous  question  was  seconded. 

The  main  question  was  then  ordered. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  moved 
i  that  the  amendment  of  the  Senate  be  laid  on 


23 


the  table  ;  and  on  that  motion  demanded  the 
yeas  and  nays. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered. 

The  question  was  taken  ;  and  it  was  decided 
in  the  negative — yeas  44,  nays  97,  not  voting 
47.” 

Among  the  yeas  were  Messrs.  Garfield, 
Logan,  Eiihu  B.  Washburn e. 

Among  the  nays  were  Messrs.  Allison,  Ames, 
Bingham,  Blaine,  Dawes,  Eliot,  Hooper, 
Kelley,  Peters,  Pike,  Scofield,  James  F. 
Wilson. 

Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Boutwell 
and  Brooks. 

So  the  House  refused  to  lay  the  amendment 
on  the  table. 

The  amendment  of  the  Senate  was  then 
concurred  in. 

Mr.  DAWES  moved  to  reconsider  and  lay 
on  the  table;  which  was  done. 

THE  WASHBURNE  RESOLUTIONS. 

Debates  and  extracts  from  proceedings  on  the 
Washburne  resolutions  to  regulate  the  tariff 
of  freights  on  the  Pacific  railroads ,  extend 
ing  from  December ,  1867,  to  May ,  1868. 
The  original  {II.  R.  No.  252)  was  intro¬ 
duced  by  Mr.  Washburne ,  December  9, 1867, 
and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific 
Railroad. 

Provisions  of  the  resolution . — It  constitutes 
the  Secretary  of  War,  Secretary  of  the  Inte¬ 
rior,  and  Attorney  General  of  the  United 
States  a  board  of  commissioners,  whose  duty 
it  shall  be,  on  the  1st  day  of  July  in  each 
year,  to  establish  a  tariff  for  freight  and  pas 
sengers  over  the  Union  Pacific  and  Central 
Pacific  railroads  and  their  branches,  which 
tariff  shall  be  equitable  and  just,  and  not 
exceeding  double  the  average  rates  charged 
on  the  different  lines  of  railroad  between  the 
Mississippi  river  and  the  Atlantic  ocean,  in 
latitudes  north  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri ;  and  it 
shall  not  be  lawful  for  said  railroad  company 
to  charge  any  sum  in  excess  of  the  rates  so 
fixed  and  established. 

The  committee  not  reporting  on  the  resolu¬ 
tion,  it  was  reintroduced  in  the  morning  hour — 
Monday,  January  20,  1868 — by  Mr.  Windom, 
as  No.  168,  and  read  the  first  and  second  time  ; 
but  the  previous  question  not  being  seconded, 
and  Mr.  Higby  rising  to  debate  the  resolution, 
it  went  over  under  the  rules,  it  came  up 
again  March  12,  1868,  (see  Globe,  vol.  66, 
page  1861,)  when  the  following  proceedings 
occurred  : 

“pacific  railroad. 

The  next  business  lying  over  under  the 
rules  was  House  joint  resolution  No.  168,  to 
regulate  the  tariff  for  freight  and  passengers 
on  the  Union  and  Central  Pacific  railroads 
and  their  branches,  introduced  by  Mr.  Win¬ 
dom,  January  20,  1868. 

Mr.  GARFIELD.  I  move  to  refer  itto  the 
Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post  Roads, 
and  call  the  previous  question. 


Mr.  WASH  BURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  hope  the 
House  will  not  second  the  previous  question. 
Let  us  have  a  square  vote  and  see  who  is  in 
favor  of  this  resolution. 

Mr.  DAWES.  We  had  a  square  vote  the 
other  day. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  And  the 
gentleman  was  with  the  monopolists.  [Laugh¬ 
ter.]  (See  vote  on  Dawes’s  resolution, 
page  21.) 

On  seconding  the  previous  question  there 
were — ayes  52,  noes  51. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  demand 
tellers. 

Tellers  were  ordered ;  and  the  Chair  ap¬ 
pointed  Messrs.  Garfield  and  Woodward. 

Mr.  ALLISON.  Let  the  joint  resolution  be 
reported  in  full. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  Clerk  not  expecting 
this  business  to  be  reached  to-day,  the  joint 
resolution  is  not  here ;  it  is  on  the  files  at  the 
Clerk’s  office. 

Mr.  GARFIELD.  I  think  it  is  very  proper, 
therefore,  to  have  it  referred. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  It  is  a 
resolution  that  ought  to  be  passed. 

The  House  divided  ;  and  the  tellers  report¬ 
ed — ayes  42,  noes  54. 

So  the  previous  question  was  not  seconded. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  Clerk  will  now  report 
the  joint  resolution. 

It  was  read. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  demanded 
the  previous  question. 

Mr.  VAN  HORN  moved  to  lay  the  resolu¬ 
tion  on  the  table. 

Mr.  HOOPER,  of  Massachusetts,  called  the 
yeas  and  nays  ;  and  they  were  ordered. 

The  vote  on  laying  on  the  table  stood — yeas 
53,  nays  70,  not  voting  66. 

Among  those  voting  to  lay  on  the  table  were 
Messrs.  Beck,  Brooks,  Dawes,  Eliot,  Hooper, 
Kelley,  Scofield,  and  Twichell. 

Among  those  against,  Messrs.  Allison, 
Blame,  Garfield,  C.  C.  Washburn,  and  E.  B. 
Washburne. 

Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Ames, 
Bingham,  Boutwell,  Dodge,  and  James  F. 
Wilson. 

So  the  House  refused  to  lay  the  bill  on  the 
table. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  morning  hour  has 
expired,  and  the  bill  goes  to  the  Speaker’s 
table.” 

March  20,  1868,  (see  Globe,  vol.  66,  p. 
2029.) — The  resolution  was  again  in  order,  and 
Mr.  C.  C.  Washburn,  of  Wisconsin,  addressed* 
the  House.  The  following  are  extracts  from* 
his  remarks  as  printed  in  Globe,  vol.  69,  pp. 
297-98,  Appendix: 

“grade  of  route. 

“ Mr.  WASHBURN,  of  Wisconsin.  There 
is  great  exaggeration  about  the  difficulties 
attending  the  building  of  these  Pacific  rail¬ 
roads.  If  gentlemen  want  information  I  will 


24 


give  it  to  them.  I  will  give  the  gentleman 
from  Iowa,  [Mr.  Dodge.]  the  very  able  and 
distinguished  engineer  of  the  road,  some  of 
his  own  figures,  i  will  refer  to  his  report  of 
1808. 

It  was  asserted  in  Congress  in  1804  that 
there  were  miles  of  this  road  that  would  coat 
$500,000  per  mile  to  build.  Here  is  my  friend's 
own  report  made  in  1868.  The  table  of  grades 
shows  upon  the  line  from  Omaha  to  the  eastern 
line  of  California  a  distance  of  one  thousand 
six  hundred  and  twenty-two  and  a  half  miles  ; 
of  dead  level  ground,  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  miles  ;  from  level  to  twenty  feet  per  mile, 
six  hundred  and  sixty-five  miles  ;  ranging  from 
twenty  feet  to  forty  feet,  three  hundred  and  forty- 
three  miles ;  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  per  mile, 
ninety-six  miles  ;  from  sixty  to  eighty  feet  per 
mile,  eighty  one  miles;  from  eighty  to  one 
hundred  feet  per  mile,  forty-five  miles;  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  sixteen  feet 
per  mile,  thirty-seven  miles. 

Such  are  the  grades  of  this  Pacific  road  as 
determined  by  their  own  engineers.  The 
almost  impassable  mountains  of  which  “Path¬ 
finders”  and  others  give  such  marvelous  ac¬ 
counts,  when  brought  to  the  unerring  test,  of 
the  engineer’s  level,  dwindle  into  insignifi¬ 
cance.  And  I  think  I  can  safely  assert  here 
that  there  is  no  sixteen  hundred  miles  of  road 
running  in  any  given  direction  in  the  United 
States  that  show  such  easy  grades  as  from 
Omaha  to  the  line  of  California.  There  was 
much  difficulty  in  determining  where  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  mountains  was,  but  it  was  finally 
determined  in  the  level  valley  of  the  Platte 
river  at  Crow  creek  crossing,  and  from  that 
point  to  the  summit  of  the  mountains  the 
distance  is  only  between  thirty -one  and  thirty- 
two  miles,  although  we  give  them  a  subsidy  of 
$48,000  per  mile  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  at  this  point  of  the  road, 

COST  OF  ROAD. 

Now,  sir,  I  have  asserted  that  this  road  can 
nearly  or  quite  be  built  with  the  Government 
subsidy.  The  first  five  hundred  miles  are 
nearly  a  dead  level,  I  am  assured  by  gentle¬ 
men  who  have  traveled  over  the  route  that  up 
to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains  it  is  a  dead 
level,  so  that  the  sleepers  are  laid  down  for 
miles  and  miles  ou  the  naked  soil  without  any 
grading,  only  a  ditch  on  each  side. 

There  cannot  be  a  shadow  of  doubt  that 
your  subsidy  in  bonds  will  nearly  or  quite 
build  and  equip  the  road,  for  this  part  of  the 
line  at  least,  with  the  vast  grant  of  lauds 
thrown  in. 

I  have  always  said  that  this  road  could  be 
built  for  the  Government  subsidies,  and  I  re¬ 
iterate  that,  provided  it  is  built  as  other  roads 
are  built,  by  contracting  with  the  lowest  bid¬ 
der.  To  make  the  road  cost  the  stockholders 
no  more  than  absolutely  necessary,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  make  it  represent  a  nominal  cost 
that  would  relieve  the  stockholders  from  the 


appearance  of  not  putting  in  money  of  their 
own,  and  also  to  relieve  them  from  the  ten  per 
cent,  dividend  proposition,  they  resort  to  a 
device  unheard  of  before  in  this  country. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER. 

The  stockholders  in  the  Pacific  road  are  few 
in  number.  ^  They  could  easily  have  made  a 
contract  with  themselves  for  the  building  of 
the  roacl,  without  bids  or  advertisements  of 
any  kind.  They  could  have  agreed  to  have 
paid  themselves  one  or  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars  per  mile,  and  swelled  the  nominal  cost  to 
such  a  figure  as  to  neutralize  the  ten  per  cent, 
proviso  in  regard  to  earnings.  But  would  such 
a  transaction  have  been  regarded  as  an  honest 
or  legitimate  and  straightforward  one,  and 
binding  on  the  Government?  Clearly  not. 
Would  a  transaction  which  amounts  to  pre¬ 
cisely  the  same  thing,  arrived  at  in  an  indirect 
manner,  be  any  more  honorable  and  straight¬ 
forward  or  binding  on  the  Government?  In¬ 
stead  of  contracting  for  the  construction  of  the 
road  as  all  other  roads  have  been  built,  what 
do  they  do?  A,  B,  C,  and  D  are  the  stock¬ 
holders  of  the  company.  A,  B,  C,  and  D, 
under  a  charter  from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
organize  themselves  into  a  company  called  the 
Credit  Mobilier  of  America.  A,  B,  C,  and 
D,  stockholders,  enter  into  a  contract  with  the 
Credit  Mobilier  to  build  this  road  at  fabulous 
prices,  and  the  Credit  Mobilier  let  out  the 
contract  at  the  lowest  figure  at  which  the  road 
can  be  built,  making  a  clear  profit  of  the  dif¬ 
ference  between  the  price  at  which  the  con¬ 
tract  is  taken  and  the  price  actually  paid  to 
those  who  do  the  work,  a  sum  I  am  assured 
that  will  not  fall  short  of  many,  many  million 
dollars.  It  will  readily  be  seen  from  this  that 
the  company  practically  contracts  with  itself 
to  build  the  road,  and  that  the  enormous  figures 
they  exhibit  as  representing  the  cost  of  the 
road  are  absolutely  fictitious.” 

March  25,  1868,  (see  Globe,  volume  sixty* 
seven,  pp.  2109,  2113,)  the  resolution  was  again 
in  order,  and  was  debated  at  length,  Mr.  Price 
answering  Mr.  Washburne,  and  Messrs.  Gar¬ 
field,  Scofield,  and  Dawes  look  part  in  the 
proceedings.  Mr.  Price  moved  to  refer  the 
resolution  to  the  Pacific  Railroad  Committee, 
and  demanded  the  previous  question.  The 
morning  hour  having  expired,  Mr.  Garfield 
asked  that  the  time  be  extended  in  order  to 
reach  a  vote,  which  was  done;  but  pending 
the  previous  question  the  House  adjourned. 

March  26,  1868,  (see  Globe,  volume  sixty- 
seven,  p.  2129.) — The  subject  was  resumed. 
Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  asked  further  time 
for  debate,  as  (  here  was  no  quorum.  This  was 
resisted,  and  Mr.  Washburne  moved  a  call  of 
the  House ;  and  upon  division  there  were — 
ayes  33,  noes  55;  no  quorum  voting.  Tellers 
were  ordered,  and  announced — ayes  40,  noes 
61.  Mr.  Washburne  demanded  the  yeas  and 
nays,  and  they  were  ordered;  and  on  the  mo¬ 
tion  for  a  call  of  the  House  there  were — yeas 
45,  nays  86,  not  voting  58, 


25 


Among  the  yeas  were  Messrs.  C.  C.  Wash¬ 
burn  and  E.  B.  Washburne. 

ikmong  the  nays,  Messrs.  Allison,  Ames, 
Bingham,  Boutwell,  Dawes,  Dodge,  Eliot,  j 
Hooper,  Kelley,  Scofield,  Twichell,  and 
James  F>  Wilson. 

_  Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Biaine, 
Brooks,  and  Garfield. 

The  previous  question  was  seconded,  and 
on  ordering  the  main  question  on  referring  the 
resolution,  the  yeas  were  73,  the  nays  54,  not 
voting  62. 

Among  the  yeas  were  Messrs.  Allison, 
Ames,  Bingham,  Boutwell,  Dawes,  Dodge, 
Eliot,  Hooper,  Keiley,  Twichell,  and  James 
F.  Wilson. 

Among  the  nays,  Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne, 

Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Biaine, 
Brooks,  Garfield,  and  Scofield, 

So  the  main  question  was  ordered. 

And  thereupon  the  following  proceedings 
occurred : 

u  Mr.  HOLMAN.  I  rise  to  a  privileged 
question.  I  make  the  request  that,  under  the 
twenty- ninth  rule  of  the  House  the  gentlemen 
who  are  interested  io  the  result  of  this  ques¬ 
tion  may  be  permitted  to  withdraw  their  votes. 
If  it  be  proper  I  make  that  point  now. 

The  SPEAKER.  That  point  cannot  be 
made  during  a  roll-call,  as  the  gentleman 
from  Indiana  is  aware. 

Mr.  HOLMAN.  Must,  it  be  made  before  I 
•  the  roll-call?  • 

The  SPEAKER.  It  must;  it  cannot  be  j 
•  made  while  the  roll-call  continues,  and  the 
roll-call  continues  until  the  Chair  announces 
f  the  result.  Otherwise  there  might  be  roll- 
calls  within  roll- calls,  the  yeas  and  nays  being 
ordered  on  the  questions  arising  under  the 
point  of  order.* 

The  vote  was  then  announced  as  above  re¬ 
corded. 

The  question  recurred  on  the  motion  to  refer 
to  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad. 

Mr.  WASHBCJRNE,  of  Illinois,  demanded 
the  yeas  and  nays. 

The  yea3  and  nays  were  ordered. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  ask 
that  this  vote  shall  be  considered  as  a  test 
vote  on  this  question.  Those  in  favor  of  the 
resolution  will  vote - 

Mr.  PRICE,  I  call  the  gentleman  to  order. 

The  SPEAKER.  Debate  is  not  in  order. 

Mr,  HOLMAN.  I  now  rise  for  the  purpose 
of  asking  the  Clerk  to  read  the  twenty-rnnth  j 
rule  of  the  House. 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

i  No  member  shall  vote  on  any  question  in 
the  event  of  which  he  is  immediately  and  par-  j 
ticuiarly  interested,  or  in  any  case  where  he  j 


*  This  ruling  was  reversed  at  the  last  session,  in  I 
the  case  of  Mr.  Hooper  voting  on  question  affecting  i 
his  interest  as  a  stockholder,  and  in  the  case  of  I 
members  who  voted  to  pay  themselves  for  contest-  i 
ing  elections.  It  is  understood  to  bo  the  ruling  of  i 
T  which  Ame3  boasted  to  MeComb.  i 


was  not  within  the  bar  of  the  House  when  the 
question  was  put.’ 

The  question  was  taken ;  and  it  was  decided 
in  the  affirmative — yeas  83,  nays  49,  not  vot¬ 
ing  57. 

Among  the  yeas,  Messrs.  Ames,  Bingham, 
Boutwell,  Dawes,  Dodge,  Eliot,  Hooper, 
Twichell,  and  James  F.  Wilson. 

Among  the  nays,  Messrs.  Holman  and  C. 
C.  and  E,  B.  Washburne. 

Not  voting,  Messrs.  Blaine,  Brooks,  Gar¬ 
field,  and  Scofield. 

So  the  resolution  was  referred  to  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  Mr.  Wilson, 
of  Iowa,  moved  to  reconsider  and  lay  on  the 
table ;  which  -was  done.” 

The  resolution  having  been  thus  referred, 
Mr.  E.  B.  Washburne  raised  the  question  in 
another  form,  (see  Globe,  vol.  67,  p.  2133, 
of  March  26,  18(58  :) 

‘'union  pacific  railroad. 

u  Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  I  rise"  to 
a  privileged  question.  J  call  up  the  motion 
submitted  on  the  26th  of  February  by  the  gen¬ 
tleman  from  Wisconsin  [Mr.  Washburn]  to 
reconsider  the  vote  by  which  the  letter  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  relative  to  the  Union 
Pacific  railroad  was  ordered  to  be  printed. 

I  congratulate  my  friend  from  Iowa  [Mr. 
Price]  on  his  success  io  preventing  my  being 
heard  this  morning,  by  getting  the  previous 
question  on  his  motion  to  commit  the  joint 
resolution  to  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific 
Railroad,  of  which  he  is  chairman. 

Mr.  WASHBURN,  of  Wisconsin.  Mr. 
Speaker,  1  was  desirous  at  the  close  of  the 
remarks  of  the  chairman  of  the  Pacific  Rail¬ 
road  Committee  [Mr.  Price]  and  his  colleague 
[Mr.  Dodge]  yesterday  of  making  a  few  re¬ 
marks  in  reply.  But,  sir,  so  determined  were 
the  friends  of  this  great®hionopoly  to  stifle 
discussion  that  they  resisted  every  appeal  that 
I  could  make  to  allow  me  even  that  poor  privi¬ 
lege.  That  I  am  now  enabled  to  defy  ail  at¬ 
tempts  to  silence  discussion  is  in  no  degree 
due  to  the  friends  of  these  roads,  but  in  spite 
of  them.  It  is  simply  due  to  the  fact  that  I 
bad  *ke  foresight  some  time  since  to  enter  a 
motion  to  reconsider  a  vote  upon  a  proposition 
connected  with  the  Pacific  railroad.  I  en¬ 
tered  that  motion  because  I  thought  an  occa¬ 
sion  might  arise  such  as  has  actually  arisen 
here. 

I  stated  that  I  had  become  satisfied  when  I 
offered  the  resolution  that  there  would  be  great 
delay  in  reporting,  even  if  the  resolution  did 
not  sleep  in  the  committee  “the  sleep  that 
knows  no  waking,”  which  I  feared  it  would. 

Now  for  the  facts  upon  which  I  based  that 
declaration ;  and  I  will  leave  the  House  and 
the  country  to  judge  whether  or  not  I  had 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  committee 
intended  to  let  that  bill  sleep  on,  whether 
they  were  friendly  or  unfriendly  to  it.  I  in¬ 
troduced  that  bill  as  long  ago  as  the  9th  of 
December,  and’  it  was  referred  to  the  Pacific 


26 


Railroad  Committee.  Nothing  having  been 
heard  from  it,  and  thinking  that  perhaps  the 
committee  would  not  be  called  for  some  time, 
or  that  there  might  be  very  considerable  delay, 
I  introduced  on  the  17th  of  February  the  joint 
resolution  which  was  discussed  yesterday,  A 
motion  was  made  to  lay  that  joint  resolution 
on  the  table.  Who  voted  against  laying  it  on 
the  table?  Certainly  not  my  friend  from  Iowa. 

Mr.  PRICE.  Do  me  the  justice  to  say  that 
I  did  not  vote  the  other  way. 

Mr.  WASHBURN,  of  Wisconsin.  1  will; 
I  was  going  to  say  that.  I  will  say  that  he 
was  not  found  voting  at  all,  from  which  I  cer¬ 
tainly  had  the  right  to  infer  that  he  was  not 
particularly  friendly  to  the  joint  resolution. 
There  are  three  members  of  the  committee 
who  did  not  vote;  1  do  not  know  why. 

*  *  -x-  *  *  -x-  -x-  -x-  * 

The  gentleman  says  in  his  speech  that  I 
ought  to  have  known  that  the  committeee  in¬ 
tended  to  report  it,  because  he  had  told  me 
so.  Well,  he  did  tell  me  that  the  committee 
intended  to  report  something,  and  that  they 
were  considering  the  matter;  and  he  said  yes¬ 
terday  that  the  committee  had  instructed  him 
to  write  to  these  different  companies  and  find 
out  what  their  earnings  and  expenses  were 
and  what  they  thought  would  be  right. 

Now,  if  the  committee  are  friendly  to  this 
proposition,  it  is  most  astonishing  that  they 
should  wait  until  they  could  hear  what  the 
wishes  of  these  railroad  companies  are.  The 
calling  on  these  companies  to  learn  what 
should  be  done  to  protect  the  people  sounds 
very  like  some  fable  I  have  read  at  some  time. 
Now,  my  friend  represents  a  State  blessed 
with  vast  flocks  of  sheep,  and,  if  I  mistake 
not,  a  colleague  of  his  in  the  last  Congress  was 
a  great  shepherd.  Now,  what  would  be  thought 
of  that  former  colleague,  if,  when  his  sheep  ap- 
pealed  to  him  for  protection  against  the  wolves, 
whom  they  alleged  were  claiming  more  mutton 
than  enough  to  satisfy  their  reasonable  appe¬ 
tites,  he  should  say  to  them,  i  I  have  written 
to  the  wolves  to  know  if  they  are  not  going  it 
rather  strong,  and  to  ask  if  they  could  not 
suggest  some  measure  by  which  you  may  be 
restricted  in  your  forays  upon  my  flocks?’ 
It  occurs  to  me  that  that  would  be  about  a 
parallel  case  to  that  of  my  frieud  from  Iowa 
calling  on  those  roads  for  information ;  and, 
if  I  mistake  not,  I  read  in  HSsop’s  Fables 
when  I  was  a  boy  a  fable  very  much  resem¬ 
bling  this.” 

Mr.  Wasbburne,  of  Illinois,  reviewed  at 
length  the  legislation  of  1864,  quoting  his  own 
argument  made  when  the  bill  of  1864  was 
pending,  and  showing  under  what  circum¬ 
stances  it  was  passed  and  how  the  amendment 
of  Mr.  Holman  relative  to  freights  was  voted 
down,  and  repeating  his  own  speech  of  1864 
against  the  tenth  section  postponing  the  Gov 
eminent  lien. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  the  House  again  re¬ 
sumed  the  consideration  of  this  bill,  and  the 


gentleman  from  Iowa  [Mr.  Wilson]  got  on  an 
amendment  for  a  grant  of  land  for  the  Bur¬ 
lington  and  Missouri  River  Railroad  Company. 
A  long  discussion  followed  on  many  of  the 
provisions  of  the  bill,  participated  in  by  Mr. 
Sweat,  of  Maine,  a  member  of  the  Pacific 
Railroad  Committee,  and  by  the  gentleman 
from  New  York,  [Mr.  Pruyn,]  who,  though 
connected  with  the  building  of  the  road,  was 
not  satisfied  with  the  bill,  with  that  sense  of 
honor  which  belongs  to  him,  refused  to  vote, 
furnishing  an  example  that  might  well  be  fol¬ 
lowed. 

On  the  24th  of  June  (Congressional  Globe, 
volume  53,  page  3244)  1  moved  to  strike  out 
the  tenth  section,  which  provided  that  the 
Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  the  Central 
Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  any  other 
company  authorized  to  participate  in  the  con¬ 
struction  of  said  road,  might  issue  the  first 
mortgage  bonds  of  their  respective  railroad 
and  telegraph  lines  to  an  amount  not  exceed¬ 
ing  the  amount  of  the  bonds  of  the  United 
States  authorized  to  be  issued  to  said  railroad 
companies  respectively,  and  that  the  lien  of 
United  States  bonds  should  be  subordinated 
to  that  of  the  bonds  of  any  or  either  of  said 
companies  which  were  thereby  authorized  to 
be  issued  by  said  railroad  companies  on  their 
respective  roads,  property,  or  equipments ; 
and  which  provided,  further,  that  the  fifth  sec¬ 
tion  of  the  original  act  should  be  further 
amended  by  striking  out  i  forty’  and  inserting 
in  lieu  thereof  1  on  each  and  every  section  of 
not  less  than  twenty.’  And  other  startling 
provisions  were  in  the  bill  doubling  the  amount 
of  land,  making  a  grant  amounting  to  more 
than  double  the  area  of  Great  Britain  and  Ire¬ 
land,  as  I  have  before  said.  Upon  that  amend¬ 
ment  the  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered,  and 
that  section,  thus  subordinating  the  security 
of  the  United  States  to  that  of  these  com¬ 
panies,  was  retained,  and  the  amendment 
rejected  by  a  vote  of  38  to  81. 

YEAS.— Messrs.  Ancona,  Arnold,  Bailey,  John 
D.  Baldwin,  Boutwell,  Cobb,  Creswell,  Dawson, 
Denison,  Eden,  Edgerton,  Farnsworth,  Hale,  Hard¬ 
ing,  Harrington,  Herrick,  Holman,  William  John¬ 
son,  Orlando  Kellogg,  Kernan,  Law,  Marcy,  McDow¬ 
ell,  Morrison,  Nelson,  John  O’Neil,  Orth,  Rogers, 
Edward  II.  Rollins,  Scofield,  Sloan,  Spalding,  Stiles, 
Thayer,  Tracy,  Upson,  EUhu  B.  Wasbburne,  and 
Joseph  W.  White— 38. 

NAYS.— Messrs.  Allison.  Ames,  Anderson,  Ashley, 
Baxter,  Beaman,  Blaine,  Blair,  Blow,  Boyd,  Brooks, 
Broomall,  Ambrose  W.  Clark,  Cole,  Thomas  T. 
Davis,  Dawes,  Demiug,  Dixon,  Donnelly,  Driggs, 
Eckley,  Eldridge.  Eliot,  English,  Finck,  Gooch. Gris¬ 
wold,  Benjamin  G.  Harris,  Higby,  Hotchkiss,  Asa- 
helW.  Hubbard,  John  H.  Hubbard,  Ilulburd,  Julian, 
Kelley,  Francis  W.  Kellogg,  Knapp.  Knox,  La 
Blond,  Littlejohn,  Long.  Longyear,  Marvin,  Mc¬ 
Bride,  McClurg,  Samuel  F.  Miller,  Morrill,  Daniel 
Morris,  James  R.  Morris,  Amos  Myers,'  Leonard 
Myers,  Noble,  Norton,  Charles  O’Neil,  Perham, 
Pomeroy,  Price,  Samuel  J,  Randall,  John  PI.  Rico, 
James  8.  Rollins,  Ross,  Schenck.  Scott,  Shannon, 
Smithers,  John  B.  Steele,  William  G.  Steele, 
Stevens,  Stuart,  Sweat,  Yan  Valkenburgh.  Ward, 
William  B.  Washburn,  Webster,  Whaley,  Wheeler, 
Williams,  Wilson,  Windom,  Vfinfield,  and  Benjamin 
Wood — 81. — Congressional  Globe%  vol.  53,  page  3244. 

The  previous  question  having  been  ordered 


27 


and  the  bill  having  passed  to  its  third  reading, 
the  gentleman  from  Indiana  [Mr.  Holman] 
called  for  the  reading  of  the  engrossed  bill, 

*  which  resulted  in  postponing  its  final  passage 
until  Monday,  June  25.  The  bill  was  on  that 
day  brought  before  the  House  and  was  passed 
by  a  vote  of  70  to  38 ;  which  vote  is  recorded 
in  the  Congressional  Globe,  volume  fifty- 
three,  page  3267,  as  follows: 

YEAS— Messrs.  Allison,  Ames,  Ashley,  Augustus 
C.  Baldwin,  Beaman,  Blaine,  Blair,  Blow,  Brande- 
gee.  Brooks,  William  G.  Brown,  Ambrose  W.  Clark, 
Coffroth,  Cole,  Creswell,  Thomas  T.  Davis,  Dawes, 
Deining,  Dixon,  Donnelly,  Eliot,  English,  Fenton, 
Garfield,  Griswold,  Hale,  Iligby,  Hooper,  Asahel  W. 
Hubbard,  John  H.  Hubbard.  Hulburd,  Jenckes, 
Julian,  Kalbfieisch,  Orlando  Kellogg,  Knox,  Little¬ 
john,  Loan,  Longyear,  Marvin,  McBride,  McClurg, 
Moorhead,  Morrill,  Morrison,  Amos  Myers,  Noble, 

.  Odell,  Charles  O’Neill,  Pa  tterson,  Perharn,  Pomeroy, 
Price,  John  H.  Rice,  Ross,  Schenck,  Shannon, 
Sloan,  Smithers,  John  B.  Steele,  William  G.  Steele, 
Stevens.  Stuart,  Sweat,  Thayer,  Upson,  Webster, 
Wilson,  Windom,  and  Benjamin  Wood— 70. 

NAYS— Messrs.  Ancona,  Bailey,  Bliss,  Boutwell, 
Chandler.  Dawson,  Denison,  Eden,  Edgerton,  Gooch, 
Grider,  Harding,  Harrington,  Benjamin  G.  Harris, 
Holman,  Philip  Johnson,  Kernan,  Knapp,  Law, 
Le  Blond,  Mallory,  Marcy,  McDowell,  McKinney, 
John  O’Neill,  Orth,  Radford,  Robinson,  Rogers, 
Edward  H.  Rollins,  Scofield,  Stiles,  Thomas,  Eiihu 
B.  Washburne,  William  B.  Washburn,  Chilton  A. 
White,  Joseph  W.  White,  and  Fernando  Wood— 38. 

The  members  of  the  present  Congress  who 
voted  for  the  bill  were  as  follows :  Allison 
of  Iowa,  Ames  of  Massachusetts,  Ashley  of 
Ohio,  Baldwin  of  Massachusetts,  Beaman  of 

*  Michigan,  Blaine  of  Maine,  Brooks  of  New 
York,  Dawes  of  Massachusetts,  Dixon  of 
Rhode  Island,  Donnelly  of  Minnesota,  Eliot 
of  Massachusetts,  Garfield  of  Ohio,  Griswold 
of  New  York,  Higby  of  California,  Hooper  of 

1  Massachusetts,  Hubbard  of  Iowa,  Jenckes  of 
Rhode  Island,  Julian  of  Indiana,  Loan  of 
Missouri,  Marvin  of  New  York,  McClurg  of 
Missouri,  Moorhead  of  Pennsylvania,  O’Neill 
of  Pennsylvania,  Perharn  of  Maine,  Pomeroy 
of  New  York,  Price  of  Iowa,  Ross  of  Illinois, 
Schenck  of  Ohio,  Stevens  of  Pennsylvania, 
Upson  of  Michigan,  Wilson  of  Iowa,  and 
Windom  of  Minnesota. 

Those  members  of  the  present  Congress 
who  voted  in  the  negative  were  as  follows : 
Boutwell  of  Massachusetts,  Chanler  of  New 
York,  Holman  of  Indiana,  Orth  of  Indiana, 
Scofield  of  Pennsylvania,  Washburne  of  Illi¬ 
nois,  Washburn  of  Massachusetts,  and  Fer¬ 
nando  Wood  of  New  York. 

The  bill  then  went  to  the  Senate  and  came 
back  with  amendments,  upon  which  a  com¬ 
mittee  of  conference  was  ordered.  On  the 
1st  of  July  the  committee  of  conference  re¬ 
ported,  bringing  in  such  new  matter  as  would, 
in  my  opinion,  be  in  violation  of  every  rule 
which  governs  committees  of  conference  in 
t  legislative  bodies.  Gentlemen  by  turning  to 
the  Globe,  volume  fifty-three,  page  3480,  will 
see  that  the  new  matter  so  introduced  covers 
nearly  a  page  of  nonpareil.  And  this  report, 
changing  so  materially  the  bill  as  acted  upon 
f  by  the  House  and  Senate,  was  gagged  through ; 


the  opponents  of  the  measure  were  not  per¬ 
mitted  to  have  it  printed  and  postponed  so  that 
they  could  see  what  it  was.  I  struggled  in  vain 
for  the  printing  of  the  report  and  for  its  delay 
until  the  members  of  the  House  could  have  an 
opportunity  of  reading  it;  but  the  gentleman 
from  Pennsylvania  [Mr.  Stevens]  demanded 
the  previous  question,  which  was  seconded  and 
the  main  question  ordered  to  be  put ;  and  it 
would  seem  incredible  that  in  a  matter  of 
legislation  involving  interests  so  vast  and 
pledging  amounts  of  money  so  enormous  even 
the  yeas  and  nays  were  refused;  that  even 
tellers  were  refused.  I  read  from  the  proceed¬ 
ings  as  reported  in  the  Globe,  volume  fifty- 
three,  page  3481 : 

“Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  demanded 
the  yeas  and  nays  on  agreeing  to  the  report ; 
and  tellers  upon  the  yeas  and  nays. 

Tellers  were -not  ordered,  and  the  yeas  and 
nays  were  not  ordered. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois,  demanded 
tellers  on  agreeing  to  the  report. 

Tellers  were  not  ordered. 

The  report  was  agreed  to.” 

Thus  ends  the  story  of  the  action  of  the 
House  touching  this  extraordinary  legisla¬ 
tion,  which  will  go  into  the  history  of  the 
country. 

“Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  Let  the 
country  understand  that  the  Sioux  City  branch, 
instead  of  running  toward  the  Pacific  ocean, 
runs  to  the  east  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  is 
twenty-five  miles  further  from  the  Pacific 
ocean  when  it  gets  south  than  it  was  when  it 
started.  These  were  the  lands  that  I 

referred  to.  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  The  gen¬ 
tleman  from  New  York  [Mr.  Bailey]  does 
not  desire  to  speak  now.  I  therefore  move 
to  lay  the  motion  to  reconsider  on  the  table. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to.” 

On  May  12,  1868,  (see  Globe,  vol.  67,  p. 
2421)  the  committee  reported  a  substitute  for 
the  resolution,  adding  to  the  original  a  pro¬ 
viso  that  it  should  not  take  effect  until  the 
road  should  be  both  completed  (they  are  not 
yet  held  by  the  Government  to  have  been  com¬ 
pleted  in  1873)  and  limiting  the  discretion  of 
the  board  so  that  they  could  not  reduce 
charges  below  eight  cents  per  mile  for  freight 
and  six  cents  per  mile  for  passengers. 

Mr.  Upson  objected  to  this  proviso,  and 
Mr.  Van  Wyck  of  New  York,  and  Mr.  John¬ 
son  of  California,  made  speeches  against  it, 
in  which  they  said : 

“Mr.  VAN  WYCK.  Now,  what  do  we  see 
from  the  company’s  report?  That  a  road 
eleven  hundred  miles  in  length,  by  their  own 
report,  is  to  be  built,  which  will  cost,  with  all 
their  fabulous  prices  for  construction,  $82,- 
000,000.  That  is  the  cost  according  to  their 
report.  And  then  they  show  what  they  have 
to  build  this  road  with.  They  have  of  the 
United  States  bonds,  $29,000,000;  of  first 
mortgage  bonds,  $29,000,000 ;  of  capital  stock 


28 


paid  in,  $8,000,000  ;  of  land  grants,  fourteen 
million  eight  hundred  thousand  acres,  which  at 
$1  50  per  acre,  amounts  to  $21,000,000,  mak¬ 
ing  in  all  $88,000,000. 

Now  mark,  they  say  the  cost  of  eleven  hun¬ 
dred  miles  is  $82,000,000,  and  yet  they  have 
$88,000,000  to  build  it.  So  they  will  have 
$6,000,000  more  in  their  treasury  when  the 
road  is  completed  than  they  have  resources  to 
build  it.  Of  that  $88,000,000,  $8,000,000  is 
money  which  they  have  put  in  their  hands  for- 
building  the  road  ;  so  that  when  it  is  finished 
they  will  have  paid  out,  according  to  their  own 
figures,  only  $2,000,000  to  build  it. 

But  this  road  does  not  cost  $82,000,000. 
These  gentlemen  have  made  contracts  with 
themselves,  whereby  they  pay  double  the 
amount  to  build  the  road  that  it  ought  to  cost. 
They  have  contracted  to  build  it  for  the  first 
five  hundred  miles  at  $50,000.  per  mile  ;  and 
the  Government  commissioners,  who  certainly 
are  not  unfriendly  to  these  parties,  in  speaking 
of  this  matter,  dated  July  8,  1865,  say  : 

4  In  October,  1864,  when  we  assumed  the 
duties  of  our  appointment,  we  found  that  in 
the  months  of  August  and  September  previous 
a  contract  had  been  arranged  and  consum¬ 
mated  by  the  executive  committee,  in  which 
are  vested  the  powers  of  the  board  when,  not 
in  session,  for  the  construction  and  equipment 
of  the  first  one  hundred  miles  of  the  road  west 
of  the  Missouri  river  at  the  rate  of  $50,000 
per  mile,  payable  $5,000  per  mile  in  the  stock 
of  the  company,  and  the  balance  in  the  cur 
rency  bonds  of  the  .Government  and  the  se¬ 
curities  of  the  company.  From  the  first  the 
contract  price  appeared  to  us  to  be  very  high. 
At  present,  with  the  probable  decline  in  the 
cost  of  labor  and  materials  and  advance  in  the 
value  of  Government  bonds,  it  seems  extrava¬ 
gant.  ’ 

Another  commissioner  reports,  on  the  26th 
of  August,  1865,  that  the  balance  of  the  five 
hundred  miles  could  be  built  at  a  small  cost 
compared  with  the  rate  at  which  the  first  one 
hundred  miles  were  contracted.  And  yet; 
$50,000  per  mile  has  been  paid  for  building  the 
road,  which  could  not  have  cost  over  $25,000. 

The  eastern  division,  a  more  expensive  road, 
cost  less  than  $30,000  to  build  it.  The  Atch¬ 
ison  branch  has  cost  less  than  that. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER. 

These  men,  then  do  not  go  outside  of  their 
own  corporation  to  make  contracts.  They 
have  created  a  Credit  Mobilier.  They  have 
created  a  ring  inside  the  corporation.  Look. 
In  1864  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  stockholders  in  this  Pacific  railroad,  hold¬ 
ing  two  thousand  shares  of  stock.  In  January, 
1866,  there  were  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  stockholders,  holding  twenty-eight  thous¬ 
and  shares  of  stock.  In  the  report  wh.cb  these 
gentlemen  were  required  to  make  they  named 
the  stockholders  and  the  amount  of  stock  held, 
In  the  last  report  the  number  of  stockholders 
had  dwindled  down  to  fifty-three,  and  they  do 


not  state  the  number  of  shares  they  own. 
Only  fifty-three  stockholders,  a  year  and  a  half 
ago,  owning  a  road  representing  $100,000,000 
of  capital !  It  takes  twenty  of  these  stock¬ 
holders  to  make  a  directory,  so  that  you  have 
thirty  outside.  Sir,  they  have  demonstrated 
that  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  this  road  have  passed  away.  The  com¬ 
pany  is  now  drawing  a  triple  subsidy  of  $96,000 
a  mile  for  building  what  was  said  to  be  the 
most  *  ‘difficult  and  mountainous’ ’  part  of  the 
road.  From  the  foot  of  the  Black  Hills,  which 
are  claimed  to  be  the  base  of  the  Rocky  mount¬ 
ains,  they  run  about  forty- five  miles  and  then 
strike  the  Laramie  plain  and  run  one  hundred 
m  iles  almost  on  a  level,  and  on  these  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  miles  they  are  receiving  the 
triple  subsidy. 

Mr.  JOHNSON,  of  California.  The  Central 
Pacific  division  of  that  great  road  is  now  charg¬ 
ing  the  people  of  the  State  of  California  fifteen 
cents  a  mile  for  freight,  and  ten  cents  a  mile 
for  passeugers. 

Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  In  gold? 

Mr.  JOHNSON,  of  California.  In  gold. 
The  net  proceeds  of  that  road,  which  is  only 
about  ninety  miles  in  length,  were  last  year 
nearly  one  million  and  a  half  dollars.  In  a 
very  short  time  that  road,  like  a  mighty  vor¬ 
tex,  will  drink  up  all  the  wealth  of  our  new 
and  growing  State.  Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  if 
there  is  any  honest  intention  on  the  part  of 
this  House  to  protect  our  people  against  this 
oppression,  I  ask  that  the  demand  for  the  pre¬ 
vious  question  be  voted  down,  and  allow  this 
amendment  to  be  made,  restricting  this  cor¬ 
poration,  and  not  leaving  them  the  latitude  of 
the  four  winds. 

Mr.  CLARKE,  of  Kansas.  At  the  mo¬ 
ment  the  merchants  of  the  city  of  Topeka 
are  transporting  their  freight  by  oxen  and 
horse  teams  to  the  city  of  Leaven  worth — a 
distance  of  forty- five  or  fifty  miles — instead  of 
sending  if  by  railroad  ” - 

After  further  debate  the  following  votes  were 
taken,  May  12, 1868.  (See  Globe,  vol.  67,  pp. 
2428-29. 

On  Mr.  Farnsworth’s  motion  to  recommit 
the  yeas  were  62,  nays  59,  not  voting  58. 

Among  the  yeas,  Messrs.  Ames,  Brooks, 
Dodge,  Eliot,  Hooper,  Kelly,  Scofield,  and 
Twicheil. 

Among  the  nays,  Messrs.  Allison,  Blaine, 
Butler,  Garfield,  E.  B.  Washburne  and  James 
F.  Wilson. 

Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs.  Bingham, 
Boutwell,  Dawes,  and  C.  C.  Washburn. 

The  next  question  was  on  motion  to  amend 
the  substitute  by  striking  out  the  proviso  on 
which  the  yeas  were  75,  nays  48,  not  voting  66. 

Among  the  yeas,  were  Messrs.  Holmau  and 
E.  B.  Washburne. 

Among  the  nays,  Messrs.  Allison,  Ames, 
Brooks,  Butler,  Dodge,  Eliot,  Garfield, 
Hooper,  Scofield,  Twitchell,  and  James  F. 
Wilson. 


29 


Among  those  not  voting,  Messrs,  Bingham, 
Blaine,  Boutweil,  Dawes,  and  Kelley. 

And  thereupon  a  further  amendment  was 
*  adopted  and  the  substitute  for  the  resolution 
passed  without  division. 

It.  went  to  the  Senate,  was  referred  to  the 
Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  there 
it  “  slept  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking.” 

Thus  was  begun,  prosecuted,  and  ended  one 
of  the  bravest  contests  ever  made  for  the  rights 
of  the  people. 

Extract  from  Report  of  Hon .  0  H  Brown • 

wg,  Secretary  of  the  Interior ,  November  30, 

1868,  p.  9 : 

“The  road,  when  examined,  was  built  eight 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  from  Omaha.  Its 
construction,  so  far  as  excavations  and  em¬ 
bankments  were  required,  was  remarkably 
easy.  From  Omaha  to  a  point  five  hundred 
and  thirty- five  miles  west  there  are  no  rock 
excavations,  and  the  natural  surface  of  a  great 
portion  of  the  intermediate  country  presents 
nearly  practicable  grades.  From  the  latter 
point  to  the  end  of  the  track  the  work  is  less 
than  on  eastern  roads  of  the  same  length,  and 
the  most  difficult  parts  are  light  in  compari¬ 
son  with  roads  in  the  Alleghany  mountains. 
There  is  but  one  tunnel.  It  is  on  the  bank  of 
St.  Mary’s  creek,  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet 
in  length.” 

%  Page  14 : 

“As  the  actual  cost,  of  this  road  is  a  matter 
of  public  interest,  I  deem  it  proper  to  present 
in  a  condensed  form  the  estimates  submitted 
on  the  14th  instant  by  Jesse  L.  Williams,  esq. 

1  He  states  that  the  cost  of  the  road,  as  shown 
on  the  books  of  the  railroad  company,  is,  of 
course,  equivalent  to  the  contract  price  per 
mile. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER. 

The  actual  cost  to  the  contractors  forming 
an  association ,  which  embraces  most  of  the 
larger  stockholders  of  the  company ,  is  shown 
only  by  their  private  books,  to  which  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  directors  have  no  access.  The  cal¬ 
culations  were,  therefore,  made  from  the  most 
accurate  and  available  data,  and  the  estimate 
cost  of  the  first  seven  hundred  and  ten  miles 
of  the  road  was  taken  as  the  basis  for  comput¬ 
ing  that  of  the  whole  line.  Should  the  road, 
as  is  expected  by  the  company,  form  a  junc¬ 
tion  with  that  of  the  California  company,  near 
the  northern  extreme  of  Great  Sait  Cake,  a 
little  west  of  Monument  Point,  its  length  v/ould 
be  about  eleven  hundred  and  ten  miles.  The 
cost  of  locating,  constructing,  and  completely 
equipping  it  and  the  telegraph  line  is  $38,824,’- 
821,  an  average  per  mile  of  $34,977  32. 

*  The  Government  subsidy  in  bonds  for  that 
distance  as  pay  amounts  to  $29,504,000,  an 
average  per  mile  of  $26,580.  The  company’s 
first  mortgage  bonds  are  estimated  at  ninety- 
two  per  cent.,  and  would  yield  $27,113,680. 

Y  The  fund  realized  by  the  company  from  these 


two  sources  amounts  to  $58,647,680,  being  an 
average  per  mile  of  $51,034,  exceeding  by 
$16,056  68  the  actual  cost  of  constructing  and 
fuiiy  equipping  the  road,  and  yielding  a  profit 
of  more  than  $17,750,000.” 

The  letter  of  Mr.  Williams  is  dated  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana,  November  14.  1868.  (See 
Executive  Document,  1888,  volume  7,  No. 
15,  part  3,  pages  27,  28,  29. 

DENVER  PACIFIC  BILL. 

On  June  26,  1888,  Mr.  Harlan,  Senator 
from  Iowa,  presented  S.  No,  570,  for  a  grant 
of  land  and  granting  the  right  of  way  over  the 
public  lands  to  the  Denver  Pacific  Railway 
and  Telegraph  Company,  and  for  other  pur¬ 
poses  ;  which  was  referred  to  the  Pacific  Rail¬ 
road  Committee.  Go  July  3,  1868,  it  reported 
with  amendments,  and  on  July  25  it  was  dis¬ 
cussed  in  the  Senate  and  passed,  and  on  the 
same  day  was  received  in  the  House.  On 
January  19,  1869,  (see  Globe,  vol.  71,  p.  462,) 
the  bill  was  taken  from  the  Speaker’s  table 
and  discussed.  Twenty-six  members  of  the 
House  participated  in  the  debate,  among  whom 
were  Messrs.  Butler  of  Massachusetts,  Dawes, 
Kelley,  Scofield,  Van  Trump,  Washburne  of 
Illinois,  and  Wilson  of  Iowa. 

Mr.  Washburne,  of  Illinois,  said,  (see  Globe, 
vol.  71,  pp.  463-464:) 

“  Mr.  WASHBURNE,  of  Illinois.  The  bill 
before  the  House  opens  up  the  whole  discus¬ 
sion  of  the  question  of  land  grants  and  sub¬ 
sidies  to  build  railroads.  In  the  observations 
I  propose  to  submit  it  will  be  impossible  for 
me  to  analyze  the  legislation  of  Congress 
upon  this  subject  for  the  past  fifteen  or  eigh¬ 
teen  years.  I  must  therefore  content  myself 
by  simply  calling  the  attention  of  the  House 
to  the  fact  that  nearly  one  third  of  the  en¬ 
tire  public  domain  has  been  made  over  to 
the  control  of  railroad  corporations.  The 
number  of  acres  granted  for  railroad  purposes 
is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  eighty- five 
millions  At  the  minimum  price  for  the  public 
land,  $1  25  an  acre,  this  amounts  to  more 
than  $231,000,000.  But  this  is  by  no  means  the 
real  value  of  the  lands  granted  away.  While 
a  very  considerable  portion  of  this  land  may 
not  be  really  worth  the  minimum  price  of  the 
Government,  taking  it  altogether  it  is  worth  a 
great  deal  more.  A  great  deal  of  it  is  worth 
$2  50  an  acre.  A  less  quantity,  though  a  very 
large  quantity,  is  worth  five  dollars  an  acre. 
Tens  of  millions  are  worth  ten  dollars  an  acre, 
and  millions  are  worth  from  ten  to  twenty 
dollars  an  acre. 

It  is  therefore  not  an  overestimate  to  say 
that  the  value  of  public  land  voted  away  by 
Congress  in  the  last  eighteen  years  has  not 
been  less  than  $500,000,000.  And  as  to  the 
quantity  of  lands  conveyed  by  these  grants,  I 
ask  the  attention  of  the  Huose  to  one  of  the 
reports  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  General 
Land  Office.  He  says  it  *  is  of  empire  extent, 
exceeding  in  the  aggregate  by  more  than  live 
million  acres  the  entire  areas  of  the  six  New 


30 


England  States  added  to  the  surface  of  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Dela¬ 
ware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia/  He  says  the 
grants  to  the  Pacific  railway  lines  alone  ‘are 
within  about  a  fourth  of  being  twice  the  united 
area  of  England,  Scotland,  Wales,  Ireland, 
Guernsey,  Jersey,  the  Isle  of  Mans,  and  the 
islands  of  theBritish  seas,  and  within  less  than 
a  tenth  of  being  equal  to  the  French  empire 
proper.’ 

This  extraordinary  statement  must  startle 
the  American  people,  if  it  do  not  arouse  their 
intensest  indignation.  And  this  is  in  addition 
to  the  untold  millions  of  subsidies,  to  which  I 
shall  hereafter  refer.  When  it  is  contemplated 
that  this  empire  of  the  public  land  goes  into  the 
hands  of  gigantic  corporations  controlled  by 
men  thousands  of  miles  away,  who  have  neither 
interest  nor  sympathy  with  the  people  in  the 
States  and  Territories  where  the  land  lies,  and 
when  you  contemplate  the  vast  power  of  these 
non-resident  land-holders,  the  overshadowing 
land  monopoly  created,  the  evils  and  oppres¬ 
sions  always  connected  therewith,  we  must  all 
be  filled  with  amazement  at  the  reckless  and 
shameless  legislation  of  Congress  on  this  sub¬ 
ject.  I  do  not  myself  claim  full  exemption 
from  blame  in  this  regard,  for  I  voted  for  some 
of  the  earlier  bills.  But  when  I  saw  the  use 
that  was  being  made  of  these  grants,  the  brazen 
greed  of  speculators  who  obtained  possession 
of  them  to  use  for  their  own  interests,  regard¬ 
less  of  the  public  interests;  when  I  looked 
beyond  the  present  and  saw  looming  up  in  the 
future  the  evils,  the  abuses,  the  corruptions, 
and  the  oppressions  which  would  come  out  of 
these  grants,  my  views  in  regard  to  the  whole 
policy  of  land  grants  were  very  materially 
modified.  And  only  a  small  band  of  members 
of  this  House  resisted  the  passage  of  the  act 
of  July,  1834,  amending  the  original  Pacific 
railroad  law,  an  act  which  swept  away  all  the 
rights  the  Government  had  reserved  to  itself 
in  the  original  bill,  which  subordinated  its 
prior  lien  on  the  road  to  a  railroad  company ; 
an  act  which  I  have  heretofore  denounced  in 
this  House,  and  one  which  will  stand  out  in 
history  as  being  more  infamous  than  any  act 
ever  passed  by  any  legislative  body  in  the 
annals  of  the  world. 

I  say  this  deliberately.  For  under  and  by 
virtue  of  the  provisions  of  that  act  the  report 
of  Jesse  L.  Williams,  esq.,  the  Government 
director  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Com¬ 
pany,  shows  the  following  state  of  facts  :  that 
the  entire  length  of  the  road  will  be  eleven 
hundred  and  ten  miles,  and  that  the  Govern¬ 
ment  subsidy  in  bonds  for  that  distance  at  par 
amounts  to  $29,504,000,  an  average  per  mile 
of  $26,580.  The  company’s  first  mortgage 
bonds  are  estimated  at  ninety-two  per  cent., 
and  would  yield  $27,143,680.  The  fund  real¬ 
ized  by  the  company  from  these  two  sources 
amounts  to  $56,647,680,  being  an  average  per 
mile  of  $51,034,  exceeding  by  $15,056  68  the 
the  actual  cost  of  constructing  and  fully  equip¬ 


ping  the  road,  and  yielding  a  profit  of  more 
than  $17,750,000.  And  thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  this  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company  will 
have,  in  addition  to  this  vast  empire  of  public 
land,  a  railroad  eleven  hundred  and  ten  miles 
long,  fully  equipped,  free  of  cost,  and  a  sur¬ 
plus  of  $17,750,000  put  into  the  pockets  of  its 
directors.  With  the  amount  of  the  people’s 
money  voted  to  this  company  sufficient  to  build 
the  road,  with  the  amount  of  $17,750,000  in 
addition,  generously  voted  into  the  already 
well-gorged  pockets  of  its  directors,  the  rates 
of  fare  and  freight  charged  to  the  people  over 
this  road,  built  by  their  money,  and  $17, 750, - 
000  thrown  in,  are  oppressive  and  extortionate. 

A  joint  resolution  passed  this  House  at  the 
last  session,  after  a  severe  contest,  limiting 
these  rates  of  fare  and  freight ;  but  that  reso¬ 
lution  now,  1  believe,  ‘  sleeps  the  sleep  that 
knows  no  waking ’  in  the  Senate;  and  it  fur¬ 
ther  may  be  said  that  this  company  has  not 
made  a  road  as  required  by  law,  ‘  equal  in  all 
respects  to  a  fully  completed  first-class  rail¬ 
road;’  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  commis¬ 
sioners  appointed  by  the  Interior  Department 
last  September  to  examine  into  the  locatiqn, 
construction,  and  equipment  of  the  road  have 
reported  that  it  will  take  $6,489,550  to  make 
it  a  first-class  road.  As  to  subsidies  in  bonds 
which  Congress  has  granted  to  railroads,  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  made 
on  the  30th  of  November,  1868,  shows  that 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  $44,337,000  had  been 
issued  to  various  railroad  companies: 


Union  Pacific,  eight  hundred  and  twenty 

miles . $20,238,000 

Central  Pacific  of  California,  three  hun¬ 
dred  and  ninety  miles .  14,764,000 

Union  Pacific,  eastern  division,  three 
hundred  and  ninety-three  and  nine 
thousand  four  hundred  and  twenty-five 

ten  thousandths  miles .  6,303,000 

Sioux  City  and  Pacific,  sixty-nine  and 

a  half  miles . 1,112,000 

Western  Pacific,  twenty  miles .  320,000 

Atchison  and  Pike’s  Peak,  one  hundred 

miles . . .  640,000 

Central  branch  Union  Pacific,  one  hun¬ 
dred  miles . .  960,000 


Seventeen  hundred  and  ninety-three 
miles,  nearly . .  $44,337,000” 


On  January  20,  1869,  Mr.  Kelley  addressed 
the  House  at  length  in  reply  to  Mr.  Wash- 
burne,  (Globe  vol.  71,  pp.  487.  488,)  and  on 
same  day  and  on  January  22,  1869,  (see  Globe 
vol.  71,  p.  528,)  Mr.  Van  Trump  addressed 
the  House.  He  said  : 

“Mr.  VAN  TRUMP.  The  annual  re¬ 
port  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  laid 
upon  our  tables  only  a  few  days  ago,  con¬ 
tains  a  statement  of  the  most  startling  and 
alarming  character.  Sir,  if  I  am  not  much 
mistaken,  it  is  a  disclosure  of  the  acts  arid 
doings  of  these  railroad  cormorants  which  will 
astonish  the  people;  one  which  will  arouse 
them  from  their  lethargy,  and  draw  down  upon 
the  heads  of  these  unconscionable  speculators 
their  deepest  condemnation.  I  honor  the  Sec- 


31 


retary  for  his  well-timed  and  manly  independ¬ 
ence  in  making  the  statement,  for  he  must- 
have  known  that  nothing  could  have  been 
more  damaging  to  the  interests  as  well  as  the 

*  character  of  these  railroad  managers.’  ’ 

On  page  14,  of  his  printed  report,  the  hon¬ 
orable  Secretary  makes  the  following  state¬ 
ment: 

‘As  the  actual  cost  of  this  road  is  a  matter 
of  public  interest,  I  deem  it  proper  to  present 
in  a  condensed  form  the  estimates  submitted 
on  the  14th  instant  by  Jesse  L.  Williams,  esq. 
He  states  that  the  cost  of  the  road  as  shown 
on  the  books  of  the  railroad  company  is,  of 
course,  equivalent  to  the  contract  price  per 
mile.  The  actual,  cost  to  the  contractors 
forming  au  association,  which  embraces  most 
of  the  larger  stockholders  of  the  company,  is 
shown  only  by  their  private  books,  to  which 
the  Government  directors  have  no  access. 
The  calculations  were  therefore  made  from 
the  most  accurate  available  data,  and  the 
estimated  cost  of  the  first  seven  hundred  and 
ten  miles  of  the  road  was  taken  as  the  basis 
for  computing  that  of  the  whole  line.  Should 
the  road,  as  is  expected  by  the  company,  form 
a  junction  with  that  of  the  California  com¬ 
pany  near  the  northern  extreme  of  Great 
Salt  Lake,  a  little  west  of  Monument  Point, 
its  length  would  be  about  eleven  hundred  and 
ten  miles.  The  cost  of  locating,  constructing, 
and  completely  equipping  it  and  the  telegraph 

%  line  is  $38,824,821,  an  average  per  miie  of 
$34,977  32, 

The  Government  subsidy  in  bonds  for  that 
distance  at  par  amounts  to  $29,504,000,  an 
average  per  mile  of  $26,580.  The  company’s 

•  first  mortgage  bonds  were  estimated  at  ninety- 
two  per  cent.,  and  would  yield  $27,143,680. 
The  fund  realized  by  the  company  from  these 
two  sources  amounts  to  $56,647,680,  being  an 
average  per  mile  of  $51,034,  exceeding  by 
$16,056  68  the  actual  cost  of  constructing  and 
fully  equipping  the  road,  and  yielding  a  profit 
of  more  than  $17,750,000.’ 

Now,  Mr.  Speaker,  I.  put  the  question  di¬ 
rectly  to  this  House  whether  this  is  not  a  most 
extraordinary  statement  of  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  this  road,  in  which  the  money 
of  the  people  is  so  deeply  involved?  It  is  to 
be  borne  in  mind  that  this  is  no  personal  or 
partisan  allegation,  no  idle  newspaper  charge, 
no  imputation  resting  upon  mere  common  ru¬ 
mor;  but  that  it  is  a  sober,  serious  statement, 
upon  reliable  data,  in  a  public  official  State 
document,  by  one  of  the  great  Departments  of 
the  Government,  and  which  remains  to-day 
unchallenged  and  uncontradicted  by  any  of 
the  ‘  high  contracting  parties  ’  alleged  to 
be  connected  with  the  transaction. 

CREDIT  MOBILIER. 

There  are  one  or  two  features  of  this  state¬ 
ment  calculated  to  challenge  an  attention  at 
once  intense  and  painful.  The  very  worst  fea¬ 
ture  of  all  is  the  fact  that  “most  of  the  largest 


stockholders  of  the  company”  should  have 
combined  with  each  other  to  “form  an  associ¬ 
ation,”  thus  creating  an  adverse  interest,  as 
“contractors,”  to  the  interests  of  the  corpora¬ 
tion,  for  the  purpose  of  building  a  road  in 
which  the  Government  had  invested  the  sum 
of  nearly  $30,000,000  as  guarantor  of  that 
same  corporation  ;  a  situation  so  delicate  and 
so  full  of  temptation  to  prey  upon  and  fraud¬ 
ulently  deal  with  such  an  immense  outside 
capital  that  no  honest  man  or  men  would 
desire  to  occupy. 

I  should  like  to  see  a  list  of  those  contract¬ 
ing  stockholders.  1  think  it  would  open  the 
people’s  eyes.  Sir,  it  is  a  specimen  of  the 
“confidence  game”  in  which  we  might  well 
affirm  that  its  turpitude  is  almost  lost  in  its 
magnitude.  If  we  could  look  in  upon  all  its 
secret  springs  and  hidden  movements,  what  an 
interesting  and  spectacular  drama  might  it  not 
present!  But  it  is  to  us  and  to  the  people  a 
terra  incognita.  Railroad  embankments,  ex¬ 
cavations,  bridges,  and  underground  masonry 
are  capital  inventions  to  hide  away  ill  gotten 
treasure  with  no  danger  of  its  discovery  or 
exposure  unless  through  the  instrumentality 
of  honest  and  disinterested  science  in  a  full 
and  accurate  measurement  of  the  entire  work 
from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other.  One  of 
the  Government  directors,  Mr.  Williams,  in  a 
letter  of  November  14,  1868,  says  that  the 
actual  cost  of  the  road  to  the  contracting 
company  is  shown  only  by  their  private  books, 
of  which  the  Government  directors  have  no 
knowledge.  He  knows  what  the  cost  of  the 
road  is  to  the  corporation,  and  consequently 
to  the  Government,  by  the  terms  of  the  con¬ 
tract  ;  but  all  else  growing  out  of  this  Credit 
Mobilier  arrangement  ‘  shadows  and  dark¬ 
ness’  rest  upon  it.  *  *  *  * 

Sir,  is  it  not  strange  that  none  of  these 
stockholders  or  contractors  have  ever  ad¬ 
mitted  or  denied  this  most  remarkable  state¬ 
ment  made  in  an  official  document  issued  by 
one  of  the  great  Departments  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment?  And  yet  as  to  this  immense  sum  thus 
found  in  the  hands  of  these  disinterested  pa¬ 
triots  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  not  one 
dollar  of  it  comes  from  the  millions  of  acres 
of  lands  granted  by  the  Government  to  this 
all-grasping  monopoly.  That  great  subsidy 
yet  remains  intact  and  untouched,  and  will 
hereafter  add  millions  of  dollars  more  to  this 
“profit”  fund  when  they  shall  be  sold  by  the 
company  to  the  people,  the  original  and  right¬ 
ful  owners.  Sir,  it  is  indeed  time  that  the 
people  should  ponder  well  and  seriously  upon 
these  most  extraordinary  transactions.  The 
people  will  have  some  idea  of  the  vast  resources 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  few  favored  individ¬ 
uals  when  they  are  informed  that  over  tifcy- 
one  million  dollars  of  the  bonds  of  the 
Government  have  already  been  issued  to  a 
single  line  of  road  and  its  tributaries  and  con¬ 
necting  branches.  The  Union  Pacific  railroad 


32 


is  connected  with,  and  therefore  will  control 
the  following  other  roads,  to  wit:  Central 
Pacific  of  California,  Union  Pacific,  eastern 
division,  Sioux  City  and  Pacific,  Western 
Pacific,  Atchison  and  Pike’s  Peak,  and  cen¬ 
tral  branch  Union  Pacific.  The  last  annual 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  shows 
the  amounts  of  Government  bonds  issued  to 
these  several  lines,  which,  with  the  $7,000,000 
issued  last  month  and  since  that  report  was 
made,  make  the  aggregate  sum  over  fifty-one 
million  dollars,  as  above  stated, 

******** 

Thus,  sir,  it  will  be  seen  that  this  road  is  also 
deficient  in  its  construction  and  equipment,  to 
an  amount  almost  equal  to  one  third  of  the 
entire  sum  which  would  have  completed  and 
fully  equipped  it  as  a  first-class  railroad.  And 
yet  every  dollar  of  the  full  quota  of  Govern 
meat  bonds  have  been  issued  and  delivered  in 
violation  of  the  express  provisions  of  a  law 
passed  almost  in  f  urore  by  a  Congress  but  too 
ready  and  anxious  to  serve  the  interests  of  a 
banded  clique  of  capitalists  and  speculators, 
who  have  from  the  beginning  looked  more  to 
the  construction  of  the  road  than  to  the  road 
itself  and  its  business  afterward  as  the  means 
of  private  profit  to  themselves.  Does  any  one 
doubt  that  these  stockholding  contractors  in 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  feel  more  interest 
in  their  contract  than  they  do  in  their  stocks, 
and  that  the  temptation  to  sacrifice  their  un¬ 
paid  stock  to  the  profits  of  their  contract  is  the 
key  to  this  most  remarkable  arrangement? 
The  stock  as  an  investment  and  the  ultimate 
success  of  the  road  is  a  naked  experiment ; 
the  profits  of  the  contract  made  under  such 
circumstances  can  be  placed  beyond  all  con¬ 
tingency.  In  such  an  alternative  self-interest 
never  hesitates.  It  will  sacrifice  the  lesser 
to  the  greater  interest,  and  so  between  two 
modes  of  speculation,  or  even  peculation,  it 
will  grasp  the  certain  at  the  expense  of  the 
uncertain. 

******  *  * 

Mr,  Speaker,  Ido  notknow  how  the  fact  may 
be,  for  1  have  not  the  means  of  knowing,  but 
I  do  know  that  the  opinion  prevails  pretty  ex¬ 
tensively  among  the  people  that  not  a  dollar 
of  the  large  stock  originally  subscribed  to  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad  has  been  applied  to  its 
construction.  I  see  my  colleague  on  the  com¬ 
mittee,  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
[Mr.  Ames,]  now  sitting  before  me,  smiles  at 
this  declaration.  I  do  not  state  the  fact  as  of 
my  own  knowledge ;  I  state  it  as  a  common 
belief.  But,  however  this  may  be,  sir,  one  fact 
is  certain,  that  by  the  amendatory  act  of  1864 
the  miserable  pittance  of  five  per  cent,  semi 
annually  may  be  assessed  upon  the  stock¬ 
holders  ;  so  that  in  any  event  sixty  per  cent, 
of  its  entire  stock  yet  remains  undue,  and 
of  course  not  paid  in.  The  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  all  this  is  at  once  suggestive  and 
alarming.” 


Extracts  from  debate  in  the  United  States  Sen * 
ate  on  the  resolution  of  Mr.  Bingham,  of 
Ohio,  for  the  'protection  of  the  interests  of 
the  United  States  in  the  Union  Pacific  Rail¬ 
road  Company,  April  5  and  6,  1869,  passed 
the  House  March  15,  1869.  The  object  of 
this  was  to  enable  the  company  to  remove 
causes  from  the  State  courts  to  United  States 
courts ,  in  order  to  escape  Fisk1  s  suit  in  New 
York,  and  to  give  them  other  relief.  ( Con¬ 
gressional  Globe ,  volume  seventy- four ,  p. 
503.) 

Mr.  Stewart,  of  Nevada,  having  denounced 
the  measure  as  in  the  interest  of  a  com¬ 
bination  which  was  defrauding  the  Govern¬ 
ment  and  seeking  aid  from  Congress  in  order 
to  escape  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  in  New 
York,  where  a  suit  was  then  pending  between 
the  parties  forming  the  Credit  Mobilier ,  and 
having  exhibited  some  of  the  contracts  be¬ 
tween  Mr.  Oakes  Ames  and  other  Credit  Mo¬ 
bilier  stockholders,  proceeded  to  say: 

“credit  mobilier. 

44  Mr.  STEWART.  He  alleges  that  there  was 
a  conspiracy  between  a  certain  lot  of  people  styl¬ 
ing  themselves  the  Credit  Mobilier ,  a  ‘ring’ 
inside  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company, 
to  swindle  all  the  world  pretty  near ;  and  he 
makes  out  a  strong  case.  His  first  allegation 
is — and  it  is  one  of  the  leading  allegations  in 
this  case,  and  it  is  stated  everywhere  in  the 
public  prints  and  in  the  reports  of  the  com¬ 
missioners — that  the  Credit  Mobilier  has  made 
very  large  dividends,  enormous  dividends.  I 
believe  the  Credit  Mobilier  people  themselves 
admit  that  fact.  They  are  put  as  high  as 
$30,000,000,  $15,000,000  in  stock.  One  of 
the  company,  1  believe,  testified  before  the 
Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  that  there 
were  dividends  of  $15,000,000  of  stock  made 
through  the  Credit  Mobilier.  I  could  not  get 
at  the  exact  data  as  to  the  amount  of  Govern¬ 
ment.  bonds,  but  the  profits  of  that  concern 
have  been  enormous.  He  asserts  that  the 
Credit  Mobilier  have  made  contracts  with 
themselves,  being  also  the  trustees  of  the 
Union  Pacific  road,  so  as  to  absorb  the  entire 
Government  bounty,  and  have  made  dividends 
among  themselves.  He  even  goes  so  far  as 
to  charge  that  members  of  Congress  are  inter¬ 
ested  in  this  thing.  I  have  heard  it  stated 
that  leading  members  of  Congress,  members 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  in 
the  House,  were  not  only  in  the  Union  Pa¬ 
cific,  but  in  this  identical  Credit  Mobilier , 
and  were  the  recipients  of  enormous  divi¬ 
dends  ,*  and  I  have  not  heard  it  deuied.  It  is 
farther  stated  that  for  that  very  reason  the 
thing  never  would  be  investigated;  and  it  is 
said,  4  You  want  to  take  it  out  of  the  courts; 
you  want  to  stifle  investigation  everywhere.’ 
Are  we  quite  prepared  to  place  Congress  in 
that  situation  if  there  is  anything  wrong  about 
this  matter?  There  may  be  something  wrong. 


33 


Before  we  pass  any  law  on  the  subj'ect  we 
should  know  that  it  is  alleged  that  this  Credit 
Mobilier,  using  the  Union  Pacific  railroad, 
has  made  further  contracts  incumbering  the 
♦  road— coal  contracts  and  other  contracts  lap¬ 
ping  ahead.’  ’ 

Speaking  of  McComb’s  suit,  he  says,  (page 
533:) 

“The  complaint  charges  that  Oakes  Ames 
holds  three  hundred  and  forty-three  shares  as 
a  secret  trustee  for  persons  whose  names  do 
not  appear  on  the  books,  and  the  allegation 
is  that  he  is  distributing  the  dividends  among 
parties  unknown.  Mr.  McComb  says  in  his 
complaint: 

4  That  the  concession  of  the  said  three  hun¬ 
dred  and  forty-three  shares  to  Oakes  Ames  as 
a  secret  trustee  for  persons  not  designated  or 
named,  and  the  agreement  of  said  Ames  to 
hold  the  said  shares  for  the  use  of  such 
unnamed  persons,  and  all  payments  of  div- 
v  idends  or  profits  to  them  or  to  the  said  Ames 
for  their  use  are  illegal,  corrupt,  in  fraud  of 
the  plaintiff’s  rights,  of  non-effect,  and  void.’  ” 

Then,  again,  he  uses  the  following  language: 

44  And  for  further  relief  in  this  behalf  your 
orator  prays  that  in  case  the  defendants  shall 
fail,  refuse,  or  be  unable  to  make  such  specific 
restitution  fully  and  completely,  it  may  be 
decreed  and  adjudged  against  all  the  defend¬ 
ants,  severally  and  jointly,  that  they  pay  to 
him,  the  plaintiff,  in  lawful  money,  the  full 
and  entire  value  of  the  three  hundred  and 
seventy-five  shares  aforesaid,  at  the  rate  of 
$500  per  share,  and  also  all  the  dividends  and 
profits  thereon  which  have  accrued  since  the 
3d  day  of  March,  1866,  which  dividends  and 
f  profits  amount  at  this  time  to  the  sum  of 
$752  upon  each  share,  and  amount  upon  the 
three  hundred  and  seventy-five  shares  aforesaid 
i  to  the  aggregate  sum  of  $280,000. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Senators,  one  thing  is  very  certain :  the 
Credit  Mobilier  have  got  enough  of  this  stock 
that  they  have  issued  since  they  obtained  the 
management  of  the  affairs  of  the  company  to 
control  all  elections.  One  of  the  managers  of 
the  Credit  Mobilier  testified  before  the  Com¬ 
mittee  on  the  Pacific  Railroad  that  they  had 
made  stock  dividends  amounting  to  some 
$15,000,000.  That  appears  to  be  in  direct 
violation  of  the  spirit  of  the  law. 
****  ***** 

(Page  534.)  How  have  these  men  all  this 
stock  ?  By  subscribing  a  little,  then  closing  the 
books,  organizing  the  Credit  Mobilier ,  contract¬ 
ing  with  that  concern  that  it  shall  keep  in  power 
the  present  directory,  making  contracts  with 
that  concern  whereby  enormous  profits  are 
realized,  and  making  dividends  in  the  stock 
of  the  company,  and  thereby  placing  it  out  of 
t  *  the  reach  of  all  the  world.  With  what  have 
they  bought  up  this  $15,000,000  of  stock? 
With  their  own  money  ?  No,  sir  ;  but  with  the 
bounty  of  the  Government. 

Now,  as  to  the  cost  of  this  road  to  Cheyenne, 


five  hundred  miles,  they  receive  $16,000  a 
mile  in  Government  bonds,  $8,000,000;  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  that  place  forward 
they  receive  $48,000  a  mile,  $7,200,000.  Say 
they  have  gone  four  hundred  miles  further — 
they  have  gone  more  than  that  I  believe — they 
would  have  $12,000,000.  They  have  had 
$30,000,000  in  round  numbers  of  Government 
bonds.  I  do  not  know  the  exact  distance  they 
have  gone  ;  but  that  is  about  the  amount. 
Thirty  million  dollars  more  of  first  mortgage 
bonds  would  make  $60,000,000.  Then  there 
is  all  the  stock  of  the  company,  which  if  sold 
for  the  value  fixed  by  law,  its  par  value,  would 
be  $100,000,000.  If  sold  for  the  value  that 
Fisk  proposes  to  pay  for  it  fifty- five  cents  on 
the  dollar,  it  would  be  $55,000,000.  Now  we 
have  over  $100,000,000  besides  the  land.  How 
much  is  that  worth  ?  It  has  not  been  estimated. 
This  stock  should  have  sold  for  fifty-five  cents 
on  the  dollar.  Men  were  willing  to  buy  it  at 
that.” 

Mr.  Nye  said,  (see  Globe,  vol.  74,  pages 
538,  and  548,  549,^550:) 

“credit  mobilier. 

44  Mr.  NYE.  They  have  violated  their  char¬ 
ter  a  dozen  times.  They  have  used  the  Credit 
Mobilier — that  myth,  that  nondescript,  that 
4  What  is  it,’  that 4  who  is  it.’  When  that  belly 
into  which  all  this  matter  has  been  swallowed, 
this  hole  into  which  $2,000,000  of  supposed 
capitol  was  covered,  has  swallowed  all  the 
Government  subsidy,  all  the  first  mortgage 
bonds,  all  the  lands,  it  is  as  voracious  to-day 
as  the  horseleech’s  daughter  that  cries  4  Give, 
give,’  when  there  is  no  more  to  give.  This 
Credit  Mobilier  when  you  come  to  search  for 
it,  is  less  than  a  myth ;  there  is  not  a  mark 
where  it  sat  except  of  ruin.  When  men  have 
done  wrong  they  resort  to  all  devices  that  are 
possible.  The  Union  Pacific  railroad  is  ar¬ 
raigned  before  a  tribunal  in  New  York,  and 
immediately  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  is  here 
asking  for  a  congressional  enactment  to  inter¬ 
pose  between  it  and  the  courts  of  New  York. 
If  there  are  any  two  things  that  seem  to  me  to  be 
compatible  they  are  the  Credit  Mobilier  and 
J udge  Barnard.  I  doubt  whether  Barnard  ever 
found  his  match  before,  and  it  is  a  fit  place  for 
them.  Let  Barnard  search  with  his  judicial 
glasses  to  find  the  Credit  Mobilier .  It  has 
done  its  work,  and  now  wants  a  congressional 
enactment  to  screen  it  from  Judge  Barnard. 
It  is  an  old  saying,  that  4  when  rogues  fall  out 
honest  men  get  their  due.’ 

Tell  me,  some  good  financier,  how  in  the 
name  of  fair  dealing  a  company  has  divided  its 
millions  that  has  borrowed  every  dollar  it  has 
had?  They  owe  the  Government  its  bonds 
to-day  ;  they  owe  the  bondholders  all  their 
own  bonds  that  they  have  issued ;  if  they  have 
stock  out,  as  is  charged  in  the  case  of  Fisk, 
and  they  have  not  appropriated  the  money  for 
which  that  stock  has  been  sold,  they  owe  that ; 
and  in  fact  it  is  said  it  has  not  been  sold  at  all, 
and  if  so,  they  are  committing  a  fraud  upon. 


34 


the  stockholders.  Now,  I  want  to  know  how 
money  is  to  be  made  in  that  way?  The  more 
a  man  owes  the  more  he  makes  1  Is  that  the 
idea  ?  I  see  the  head  of  this  affair  here  in 
my  eye,  [alluding  to  Mr.  Oakes  Ames.]  I 
should  like  to  have  him  cipher  it  out  and  show 
me  how  it  is  that  when  they  borrow  from  thirty- 
two  to  sixty-four  thousand  dollars  to  the  mill 
and  owe  it  all  they  have  got  so  rich  ?  I  will 
tell  you  how  it  is.  The  Government,  in  its 
munificence  and  in  its  magnanimity,  allowed 
the  law  to  be  so  amended  that  they  should 
issue  their  own  bonds  first,  and  the  security 
of  the  Government  for  its  bonds  should  be  a 
secondary  consideration. 

I  am  now  supposing  this  Credit  Mobilier  to 
be  a  living  thing,  and  the  manipulator  and 
manager  of  the  whole.  If  I  was  going  to 
guess — and  being  a  Yankee  I  believe  I  have  a 
right  to  guess — the  way  they  are  to  make  their 
money  i3  about  this:  they  have  got  a  road 
made,  at  least  some  of  the  way,  of  very  doubt¬ 
ful  material,  some  of  the  way  crookeder  than 
the  horn  that  was  blown  arqund  the  walls  of 
Jericho,*  they  call  it  themselves,  in  their  re¬ 
port,  the  Z.  My  honorable  friend  from  Ne¬ 
braska  says  that  they  had  a  right  to  make  Zs 
or  Ws  or  anything  else.  They  had  no  right  to 
make  the  road  in  such  a  manner  as  to  trample 
down  the  obligations  they  were  under  to  the 
Government  and  to  their  real  genuine  stock¬ 
holders.  This  Credit  Mobilier  will  be  blown 
into  thin  air,  as  it  is  now.  It  is  something 
that  you  cannot  find.  It  had  its  origin  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  has  crossed  the  line  and 
got  into  New  York,  and  where  it  will  be  next 
God  only  knows. 

The  way  they  intend  to  make  the  money  is 
to  let  the  road  be  sold  upon  the  first  mortgage 
bonds  and  ask  the  Government  where  it  is 
going  to  get  its  security.  That  is  what  they 
mean,  if  anything.  That  is  not  fair  dealing. 

Magical  financiering,  indescribable  skill! 
The  Credit  Mobilier  and  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad  are  the  same  thing  precisely.  Fisk 
has  sworn  to  it,  and  not  one  of  the  company 
has  sworn  to  the  opposite.  Why  do  they  not 
answer  solemnly  in  that  court?  There  is  no 
answer  put  in,  and  therefore  Fisk  stands  un¬ 
contradicted  before  the  world  in  his  charges 
that  this  company  is  steeped  in  fraud  to  its 
very  armpits.  They  have  not  denied  it,  but 
they  appeared  yesterday  in  court  in  New 
York,  and,  as  if  by  magic,  their  action  was 
printed  and  laid  on  the  tables  here  this  morn¬ 
ing;  but  it  does  not  meet  the  case.  It  is 
not  what  the  law  of  New  York  requires — a 
solemn  answer  to  the  complaint  under  oath. 
They  will  never  make  it  there  ;  and  if  they  fail 
to  get  Congress  to  say  that  they  may  hold  their 
meeting  here,  Fisk  will  be  compromised  with 
pretty  quick,  because  he  knows  too  much 
about  it.  Why  get  it  here?  Are  there  no 
courts?  I  have  a  little  pride  in  the  judicial 
history  of  New  York.  Whatever  may  be  said 
of  the  local  courts  of  New  York  city,  at  the 


head  of  the  judiciary  of  that  great  State  sits 
a  tribunal  as  pure  as  the  water  that  flowed 
from  the  fountain  when  smitten  by  the  prophet’s 
rod,  and  as  able  as  any  other  judicial  tri¬ 
bunal  of  this  nation,  and  whose  decisions  are 
regarded  as  law  as  wide  as  civilization  is  known. 
These  people  have  no  business  to  be  afraid  of 
and  to  ask  to  flee  from  the  courts  of  New 
York.  No,  sir;  her  judicial  names  will  shine 
when  the  Credit  Mobilier  will  smell  unsavory 
in  the  nostrils  of  a  defrauded  people.  Why 
enter  into  an  agreement,  binding  with  fetters 
that  the  stockholders  cannot  break,  that  they 
should  perpetuate  Mr.  Ames  and  Mr.  A  B 
and  Mr.  C  D  as  directors  so  long  as  they 
held  the  stock  ? 

That  is  the  inquiry  the  country  will  make. 

That  is  the  inquiry  that  will  answer  the  hon¬ 
orable  Senator’s  question  why  is  it  that  we 
want  no  new  commissions  for  these  parties  to 
manipulate.  Everything  that  they  have  taken 
hold  of  has  felt  the  blast  of  the  upas  ;  and 
for  God’s  sake  let  them  wither  no  more.  Let 
there  be  no  new  commissions.  Why,  sir,  this 
Credit  Mobilier  as  compared  with  the  corpora¬ 
tion  to  build  the  railroad  reminds  me  of  an 
incident  that  is  said  to  have  occurred  in  Eng¬ 
land.  When  the  Bishop  of  Rochester  swore, 
one  of  his  flock  overheard  him  and  said  it  was 
entirely  unbecoming  a  bishop  to  use  profane 
language.  Said  he,  ‘You  do  not  understand 
the  point  at  all ;  I  did  not  swear  as  a  bishop  ; 

I  swore  as  simple,  plain  John  Delainey.’  The 
reply  was,  ‘  When  the  devil  came  for  tha 
bishop  where  would  Delainey  be?’  So  I 
inquire  when  the  law  goes  after  the  Credit 
Mobilier  where  is  the  Pacific  railroad  ?” 

Mr.  Wilson,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Mr. 
Conkling  took  part  in  the  debate.  (See  Globe, 
vol.  74,  pp.  545-547,  and  548,  April  6,  1869.) 

“  Mr.  VYILSON.  As  I  have  listened  to  the 
zeal  and  earnestness  with  which  the  question 
has  been  discussed  here  and  elsewhere,  I  hava 
felt  sometimes  that  the  Central  Pacific  rail¬ 
road  had  friends,  that  the  eastern  division  had 
friends,  that  the  Union  Pacifie  railroad  had 
friends,  and  that  the  Government  had  very 
few.  I  think  our  business  is  to  take  care  of 
the  interests  of  the  country,  and  not  to  take 
care  of  the  interests  of  either  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad  or  the  Central  Pacific  railroad.  The 
men  who  represent  the  interests  of  this  Gov¬ 
ernment  in  the  work  stand  before  Congress 
and  the  country  and  unite  in  asking  action.  I 
believe  they  know  what  the  interests  of  the 
country  are,  and  I  think  we  should  have  acted 
long  ago.  Now,  sir,  here  we  are  to-night.  I 
think  we  ought  to  act  upon  this  joint  resolu¬ 
tion,  and  to  finish  it  now.  We  propose  to 
adjourn  on  Saturday. 

Mr.  CONKLING.  I  understand  the  honor¬ 
able  Senator  from  Massachusetts  to  say  that 
he  belongs  to  that  party  which  he  thinks,  and 
I  am  inclined  to  agree  with  him,  is  rather 
small,  composed  of  the  friends  of  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  in  this  matter.  I  would  like  to  join  him  %  ( 


35 


as  a  member  of  that  party  and  follow  him. 
With  th.at  view  I  should  like  to  make  two  in¬ 
quiries.  Does  the  Senator  tell  the  Senate  that 
^  the  five  gentlemen  constituting  the  Govern¬ 
ment  directors  in  this  company  have  ever,  in 
any  form,  suggested  or  asked  for  legislation 
since  the  Cabinet,  upon  the  opinion  of  the 
Attorney  General,  took  action,  which  occurred 
about  the  1st  of  March  last? 

Mr.  WILSON.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
elect  directors  in  the  city  of  New  York,  but  it 
was  broken  up  by  the  intervention  of  the  courts, 
at  the  instigation  of  Mr.  Fisk.  The  five  Gov¬ 
ernment  directors  came  here  and  united  in  a 
written  and  printed  call  upon  Congress  to  so 
legislate  as  to  allow  the  election  of  directors  of 
that  road  and  allow  the  company  to  remove  to 
some  other  place  its  business  office.  That  is  in 
the  first  section  of  the  joint  resolution.  As  to 
the  second  and  third  sections,  I  do  not  know 
that  any  of  them  are  recommended  at  all  by 
the  Government  directors.  They  are  moved 
by  the  Senator  from  Ohio,  and  are  distinct 
propositions  from  the  other. 

Mr.  CONKLING.  That  obviates  the  ne¬ 
cessity  of  my  asking  the  second  question  which 
I  rose  to  put.  I  understand,  then,  and  the 
understanding  of  the  Senator  is  like  my  own, 
that  these  five  gentlemen  did  ask  to  be  rescued 
by  Congress  from  the  litigation  in  which  they 
were  involved,  and  to  be  permitted  to  change 
their  home  office  from  the  city  of  New  York 
%  to  some  other  place,  which  was  originally  pre¬ 
sented  with  many  alternatives,  putting  in  a 
good  many  cities  ;  and  I  was  desirous  to  know 
whether  they  asked  more  than  this,  because 
I  thought  I  had,  and  I  think  I  have,  unmis- 
*  takable  evidence  that  no  one  of  these  men  has 
ever  proposed,  under  pretense  of  protecting 
the  Government,  such  provisions  as  are  found 
in  the  second  section.” 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Kentucky,  proposed  an 
amendment  providing  that  the  Attorney  Gen¬ 
eral  should  investigate  the  condition  of  the 
companies,  and  the  conduct  of  the  directors, 
and  if  need  be  institute  proceedings  against 
•  them  ;  and  upon  this  amendment  the  follow¬ 
ing  debates  occurred.  (See  pages  670  and 
671,  672,  673.) 

u  Mr.  DAVIS,  of  Kentucky.  This  corpora¬ 
tion  has  received  an  endowment  from  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  that  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of 
all  other  works  combined.  Now,  sir,  there  are 
a  few  principles  of  law  and  of  common  honesty 
that  ought  to  regulate  all  such  works  as  the 
Pacific  railroad.  I  will  name  some  of  them. 
One  is  that  all  the  current  expenses  of  the  pro¬ 
ject  ought  to  be  paid  as  they  arise.  After  the 
current  expenses  are  paid,  all  the  revenues  and 
produce  of  the  company  ought  to  be  appro- 
r  priated  to  the  construction  of  the  road.  There 
ought  to  be  no  dividends  declared  and  parti¬ 
tions  made  among  the  stockholders  until  the 
work  is  complete. 

Mr.  President,  we  were  informed  a  few 
f  days  ago  that  there  had  been  the  most  marvel¬ 


ous  amount  of  dividends  declared  among  the 
stockholders  in  the  eastern  section  of  this 
road.  How  did  that  come  about?  This  road, 
it  seems  beyond  all  question,  is  very  far  from 
being  finished,  and  to  a  considerable  extent 
that  it  has  been  constructed  the  construction 
has  been  very  inadequate  and  the  work  very 
insufficient  to  come  up  to  the  requisitions  of 
the  charter.  How  happened  it  when  the  road 
was  in  this  state  of  incompleteness  and  of  im¬ 
perfect  execution  to  some  considerable  extent 
that  such  a  marvelous  amount  of  dividends 
was  made  among  the  shareholders  by  the  di¬ 
rectors? 

We  had  a  little  inkling  into  this  matter  when 
the  subject  was  before  the  Senate  the  other 
day.  There  was  a  director  of  the  eastern  sec¬ 
tion  of  this  road,  a  member  of  the  other  House, 
and  there  was  the  chief  engineer  of  the  pro¬ 
ject,  and  also  a  member  of  the  other  House, 
who  were  confronting  the  Senate  during  the 
whole  time  of  the  debate  upon  the  subject.  I 
ask  how  does  it  come  about  that  the  chief  en¬ 
gineer  of  the  company  instead  of  being  upon 
the  line  of  the  road  and  supervising  and  super¬ 
intending  the  road  in  its  construction  every 
day  through  its  whole  length  is  found  to  be  a 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ?  He 
does  not  represent  the  private  stockholders 
alone.  No  engineer  does.  He  is  the  legiti¬ 
mate  and  responsible  representative  of  every 
interest  in  the  road.  He  represents  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  as  well  as  the  private  stockholders  in 
that  road ;  at  least  it  is  his  duty  to  do  so.  He 
is  a  thousand  miles  or  more  away  from  the 
field  of  his  duties,  a  member  of  Congress, 
vottog  upon  every  proposition  in  relation  to 
the  interests  of  this  road,  when  he  ought  to  be 
in  the  field  exercising  and  executing  the  im¬ 
portant  duties  of  chief  engineer  of  the  road. 
What  is  he  here  for?  Can  he  better  repre¬ 
sent  that  road  and  ail  its  interests  by  serving 
as  a  member  of  Congress  in  the  other  House 
or  by  being  upon  the  line  of  the  road  perform¬ 
ing  the  high  and  important  duties  of  chief 
engineer? 

There  was  another  member  of  that  private 
corporation  from  the  other  House  on  the  fioor 
of  the  Senate  during  the  whole  of  the  debate. 
He  represents,  it  seems,  and  owns  interest  in 
the  road  to  the  amount  of  hundreds  of  thou¬ 
sands  of  dollars.  He  was  one  of  the  direct¬ 
ors  of  the  road.  He  was  one  of  the  three 
parties  to  the  contract  that  was  read  by  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Nevada,  [Mr.  Stew¬ 
art,]  to  which  the  Credit  Mobilier  was  a  party. 
With  ail  his  interest  in  the  road,  I  presume, 
and  I  believe  the  fact  is,  that  he  was  voting 
upon  every  proposition  involving  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  the  road,  and  of  course  his  princely 
interests  in  it.  Is  that  a  right  condition  of 
things?  We  have  a  rule  of  the  Senate,  and 
there  is  a  rule  of  the  House  also,  that  posi¬ 
tively  interdicts  any  member  from  voting  upon 
any  question  in  which  he  has  a  direct  interest. 

I  suppose  there  was  no  proposition  in  relation 


36 


to  these  roads,  and  especially  in  relation  to 
the  conflict  of  interest  and  pretension  and 
right  to  the  endowment  by  Congress  of  the 
roads  to  the  enormous  amount  that  Congress 
has  endowed  them,  in  which  there  was  not  a 
rival  interest  between  them,  and  in  which  the 
personal  interests  of  that  director  and  that 
large  shareholder  in  the  private  stock  of  the 
road,  and  also  the  personal  interests  of  the 
chief  engineer,  were  not  deeply  involved;  and 
yet  we  have  a  positive  rule  of  both  Houses 
that  no  member  shall  vote  upon  any  question 
in  which  he  has  a  direct  personal  interest. 

Sir,  are  not  these  extraordinary  features  in 
the  management  of  this  road,  in  the  con¬ 
tracts  which  are  made  for  it  by  its  directors  ; 
in  the  presence  of  two  men  who  are  as  deeply 
interested  in  it  as  the  two  men  to  whom  I  have 
referred,  being  members  of  the  other  House 
of  Congress,  and  voting  on  all  the  questions 
involving  at  least  the  large  pecuniary  interests 
of  one  of  them !  These  matters  ought  to  be 
looked  to  by  Congress.  The  members  of  Con¬ 
gress,  and  especially  the  committee  who  have 
charge  of  this  great  work,  owe  it  to  the  coun¬ 
try,  owe  it  to  the  Government,  owe  it  to  them¬ 
selves,  to  undertake  a  close  examination  and 
supervision  of  all  the  interests  of  the  road,  and 
especially  of  the  conduct  of  the  directors  and 
of  the  chief  engineer  generally.  I  do  think 
that  this  subject  ought  not  to  be  dismissed  by 
the  Senate,  late  as  it  is  in  the  session,  until 
there  are  provisions  attached  to  this  joint  reso¬ 
lution  that  will  guard  the  interests  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  and  of  the  country  generally  in  the 
road  against  the  anticipated  catastrophe  of  the 
honorable  Senator  from  Nevada.  What  was 
his  prognostication  ?  That  this  company  by 
declaring  such  an  amount  of  dividends  was 
making  a  case  to  go  into  bankruptcy. 

It  is  not  my  amendment  that  will  bring  dis¬ 
credit  upon  the  road,  if  it  is  to  be  discredited. 

It  will  be  the  disclosures  that  have  been 
made  in  this  debate  of  the  enormous  misman¬ 
agement  of  the  road  by  its  directory.  I  under¬ 
stand  that  dividends  have  been  declared  to  the 
amount  of  about  twenty  million  dollars.  I 
understand  that  the  amount  of  subsidies  which 
this  end  of  the  road  has  received  from  the 
Government  is  about  twenty-nine  million  dol¬ 
lars,  and  that  the  amount  of  the  debt  which  it 
owes,  and  which  it  has  secured  the  payment 
of  by  its  mortgage,  amounts  to  $29,000,000. 
There  are,  then,  $58,000,000  of  indebtedness 
by  this  company,  either  due  or  to  fall  due,  and 
the  road  is  unfinished.  It  will  take  a  large 
amount  of  money  yet  to  finish  it  as  a  first-class 
railroad. 

I  ask  the  honorable  Senator  what  kind  of 
direction  is  it  for  a  road  to  make  dividends 
of  $18,000,000,  when  it  owes  $58,000,000  to 
honest  creditors,  and  the  road  is  so  far  un¬ 
finished  as  to  require  many  millions  more  to 
make  it  a  first-clas3  road?  Is  there  any 
fidelity,  any  honesty,  any  good  faith  or 
.  morality  in  that  sort  of  management?  Will 


that  sort  of  management  of  this  railroad  be 
tolerated  by  Congress?  Is  it  not  a  violation 
of  common  honesty,  and  of  ail  sound  and 
correct  management  of  roads,  when  such  divi¬ 
dends  take  place  when  the  road  is  incomplete, 
and  when  there  is  such  an  amount  of  debt  due 
to  creditors  ? 

These  facts  are  laid  before  the  Senate  ;  they 
are  uncontroverted.  They  are  in  an  official 
report  which  I  have  before  me. 

Mr.  WILSON.  It  is  enough  to  make  the 
heartsick  to  hear  what  we  hear  and  see  what 
we  see  in  regard  to  the  railroads  of  the  coun¬ 
try.  All  sorts  of  schemes  are  here,  all  kinds 
of  interests  are  here,  and  it  is  a  very  difficult 
thing  to  give  a  vote  or  utter  a  word  without 
subjecting  one’s  self  to  the  imputation  of 
being  owned,  or  run,  or  directed  by  some  cor¬ 
poration,  or  some  combination,  or  some  ring 
of  men.  But,  sir,  it  is  our  duty  to  take  care 
of  the  public  interests.  We  determined  to 
build  a  railway  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  that 
railway  has  been  pushed  with  a  vigor  and 
energy  never  surpassed,  never  equaled  in  any 
portion  of  the  world. 

But,  sir,  while  this  construction  of  the 
Pacific  railroad  has  been  pushed  with  great 
vigor,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  some  actions 
have  taken  place  in  reference  to  the  building 
of  that  road  calculated  to  injure  persons  con¬ 
nected  with  it,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  thieves  have  made  a  raid  upon  the  road 
and  upon  everybody  connected  with  it.  The 
public  mind  has  been  led  to  believe  that  there 
are  wrongs  somewhere. 

Mr.  DAVIS,  of  Kentucky.  It  is  not  denied 
that  the  chief  engineer  of  the  Union  Pacific 
railroad  is  a  member  of  the  other  House. 

Mr.  THAYER.  He  is  not  now..  He  was 
formerly. 

Mr.  DAVIS,  of  Kentucky.  I  ask  the  hon¬ 
orable  Senator  from  Massachusetts  if  it  was 
seemly,  if  it  was  right  and  proper  that  he  should 
have  held  these  two  positions  ?  I  do  not  know 
when  the  other  member  of  the  late  and  present 
House  who  has  been  spoken  of  became  attached 
in  interest  to  this  great  project.  I  have  no  preju¬ 
dice  whatever  against  that  stockholder  and 
that  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
The  honorable  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
does  not  controvert  that  this  directory  has  de¬ 
clared  large  dividends  among  the  stockholders. 
I  say  that  there  cannot  be  a  more  flagrant  der¬ 
eliction  of  duty  than  the  declaration  of  large 
dividends,  considering  the  indebtedness  of 
this  company,  and  the  unfinished  condition  of 
the  road.  In  the  report  of  Mr.  Snow,  giving 
a  statement  of  the  liabilities  of  the  Union  Pa¬ 
cific  Railroad  Company,  he  puts  them  down 
thus  : 


United  States  bonds . 

First  mortgage  bonds . 

Bills  payable,  loans,  &c.,  January  1, 


. $29,328,000 

.  29,328,000 

1869...  13.059,847 


Making  an  aggregate  of. 


$71,715,847 


That  is  the  enormous  amount  of  indebted- 


37 


ness  of  this  road  according  to  this  showing ; 
and  with  all  this  vast  load  of  debt  the  company 
has  the  hardihood  to  declare  dividends  and 
^  divide  out  among  its  principal  shareholders 
the  amount  of  millions.  I  ask  if  there  ever 
was  a  more  flagrant  denouement  of  mismanage¬ 
ment  upon  any  corporation  whatever?  If 
ever  there  was  a  vast  corporation  having  under 
its  management  millions  and  tens  of  millions, 
almost  one  hundred  million  dollars,  in  which 
there  is  such  a  mighty  interest  of  people,  of 
stockholders  and  of  Government,  that  needed 
investigation,  thorough  and  searching,  this  is 
the  subject,  and  this  is  the  time  and  the  occa¬ 
sion  ;  and  I  hope  the  Senate  will  adopt  the 
amendment  which  provides  that  this  investi¬ 
gation  shall  be  made  by  the  Attorney  General 
of  the  United  States.” 

The  amendment  was  adopted,  and  became 
part  of  the  act,  but  if  any  investigation  was 
had  under  it,  the  fact  or  the  result  has  not 
been  published. 


By  the  Poland  report,  No.  77,  among  the 
admitted  Credit  Mobilier  stockholders  appear, 
(see  list  on  p.  67-68,  and  findings  and  evi¬ 
dence  as  to  purchasers  of  stock  held  by  Oakes 
Ames  as  trustee :) 

Thomas  C.  Durant,  George  F.  Train,  J.  M. 
S.  Williams,  H.  S.  McComb,  J.  W.  Grimes, 
Oliver  Ames,  J.  B.  Alley,  Samuel  Hooper  & 
%  Co.,  Oakes  Ames,  C.  H.  Neilson,  H.  L.  Dawes, 
Glenni  W.  Scofield,  John  A.  Bingham,  Wil¬ 
liam  B.  Allison,  James  F.  Wilson. 

SIOUX  CITY  AND  PACIFIC. 

f  Among  the  stockholders  in  the  Sioux  City 
and  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  a  branch  of 
the  Union  Pacific,  as  appears  by  the  record 
of  a  case  in  the  supreme  court  of  New  York, 
containing  the  testimony  of  Ames  and  others, 
are : 

Oakes  Ames,  John  I.  Blair,  Blairtown, 
New  Jersey;  John  B.  Alley,  Samuel  Hooper 
&  Co.,  J.  F.  Wilson,  William  B.  Allison. 

IOWA  FALLS  AND  SIOUX  CITY. 

Among  the  subscribers,  stockholders,  and 
bondholders  of  the  Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City 
railroad — which  connects  with  the  Sioux  City 
and  Pacific  at  Sioux  City — as  appears  from 
the  report  of  the  Poland  committee  on  that 
road  (Forty-Second  Congress,  third  session, 
report  82,  pages  45  and  5,  6,  7,  18,  19,  and 
20)  are: 

Oakes  Ames,  John  B.  Alley,  John  I.  Blair 
(of  Blairstown,  New  Jersey,)  Oliver  Ames 
and  Sons,  A.  &  P.  Coburn,  James  G.  Blaine, 
Frederick  A.  Pike,  James  W.  Grimes,  Glenni 
W.  Scofield,  H.  S.  McComb,  Samuel  Hooper 
,  k  &  Co.,  James  F.  Wilson,  William  B.  Allison. 

REPORT  ON  IOWA  FALLS  AND  SIOUX  CITY. 

This  report  shows  that  this  company  re¬ 
ceived  a  land  grant  by  act  of  Congress,  March 
t  2,  1868,  reviving  the  grant  to  the  State  of 


Iowa,  made  in  1856,  and  lapsed  in  1866,  for  a 
road  from  Dubuque  to  Sioux  City,  that  the 
old  company  had  made  about  one  hundred  and 
wenty  miles  and  failed.  The  revived  grant 
gave  the  company  until  January,  1872,  to 
build  the  road.  The  new  company  was 
formed  in  1857,  and  procured  the  act  of  Con¬ 
gress  reviving,  and  concurrent  legislation  in 
Iowa  to  applying  it.  They  thus  received  be¬ 
tween  six  hundred  thousand  and  seven  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  acres.  The  Commissioner  of 
the  Land  Office  estimates  it  at  688,563  acres. 
(See  his  letters  with  report.)  These  lands 
have  sold  and  are  selling  at  from  six  to  seven 
dollars  per  acre,  averaging  $6  50,  and  are 
therefore  worth  over  $4,500,000.  (See  testi¬ 
mony  of  Ames  and  Biair  and  statement  of 
Jay  Cooke  &  Co.)  Mr.  John  I.  Blair,  the 
chief  corporator,  swears,  on  page  43  : 

“ Question .  What  was  the  actual  cash  cost 
of  that  road  originally  ? 

Answer .  We  paid  in  fifty* seven  per  cent,  on 
eight  millions,  about  $4,625,000.  That  was 
the  cost  of  the  road,  depots,  round-houses, 
side  tracks,  and  everything.  That  was  the 
whole  amount  expended.” 

This  road  runs  through  a  very  fertile  region, 
and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  with  probable  advance 
in  the  value  of  lands,  the  land  grant  is  worth 
all  the  road  cost,  so  that  its  constructors,  and 
those  who  join  them  on  the  “ground  floor,”  get 
the  road  for  nothing.  Before  it  was  built  it  had 
been  leased  unstocked  to  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  Company  at  thirty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  gross  earnings  for  the  first  ten  years,  and 
thirty-six  per  cent,  thereafter,  the  lease  renew¬ 
able  forever. 

The  report  of  the  Poland  committee  on  this 
road  states : 

“Among  the  subscribers  was  Mr.  Oakes 
Ames,  then  and  now  a  member  of  Congress 
from  Massachusetts,  and  he  and  his  firm  and 
members  of  his  family  subscribed  $950,000 ; 
Samuel  Hooper  &  Co.,  of  Boston,  sub¬ 
scribed  $200,000.  Mr.  Samuel  Hooper,  of 
the  House,  is  the  senior  member  of  the  firm. 
Mr.  William  B.  Allison,  of  Iowa;  Mr.  James 

F.  Wilson,  of  Iowa  ;  Mr.  J.  W.  Grimes,  of 
Iowa ;  Mr.  F.  A.  Pike,  of  Maine  ;  and  Mr. 

G.  W.  Scofield,  of  Pennsylvania,  were  also 
subscribers,  and  were  at  the  time  members  of 
Congress. 

Among  other  subscribers  were  Messrs.  A. 
and  P.  Coburn,  of  Maine,  to  the  amount  of 
$200,000.  It  was  claimed  that  this  subscrip¬ 
tion  was  made  in  whole  or  in  part  for  the 
benefit  of  Mr.  Blaine,  the  present  Speaker  of 
the  House,  and  we  have  therefore  investigated 
that  matter  and  all  connection  of  Mr.  Blaine 
with  the  road. 

The  Coburns  are  gentlemen  of  large  wealth, 
and  have  been  concerned  largely  in  railroad 
and  other  business  enterprises  for  many  years. 
In  some  of  these  matters  Mr.  Blaine  has  been 
connected  with  them.  In  the  latter  part  of 
1863,  or  early  in  1869,  Mr.  John  I.  Blair, 


STOCKHOLDERS  IN  LAND-GRANT  AND  SUBSIDY  RAIL¬ 
ROADS—  CBEDIT  MOBILIER. 


38 


before  mentioned,  spoke  to  Mr.  Blaine  about 
becoming  a  subscriber  toward  the  building  of 
this  road,  and  Mr.  Grimes  also  had  similar 
conversation  with  him.  Mr.  Blaine  said  that 
he  was  not  then  in  a  condition  to  become  a 
subscriber,  but  that,  from  their  representation 
of  the  character  of  the  investment,  he  thought 
the  Messrs.  Coburn  might  desire  to  do  so. 
At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Blair  or  Mr.  Grimes, 
Mr.  Blaine  wrote  to  the  Messrs.  Coburn  on 
the  subject,  and  it  resulted  in  their  making  the 
above-named  subscription.  We  find  that  Mr. 
Blaine  bad  no  share  or  interest  whatever  in 
the  subscription  made  by  them. 

In  1870  and  1871  Mr.  Blaine  purchased 
about  $20,000  of  the  bonds  issued  by  the 
Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City  Company  at  eighty 
cents  on  the  dollar. 

In  January,  1872,  in  a  settlement  of  some 
matters  between  Mr.  Blaine  and  the  Messrs. 
Coburn,  he  let  them  have  a  portion  of  these 
bonds  at  ninety  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  at  the 
same  time  he  took  from  them  a  quantity  of  the 
stock  of  the  road  at  sixty  cents  on  the  dollar. 

Except  by  the  ownership  of  the  bonds  and 
stocks  thus  purchased  by  Mr.  Blaine,  the 
committee  find  that  Mr.  Blaine  had  no  inter¬ 
est  whatever  at  any  time  in  said  Iowa  Falls 
and  Sioux  City  railroad.  ” 

Mr.  Oakes  Ames  sworn,  page  5. 

11  Question.  We  are  directed  by  this  resolu¬ 
tion  to  find  out,  if  we  can,  what  members  of 
Congress  had  to  do  with  this  corporation.  Do 
you  know  about  that? 

Answer.  It  is  my  impression  that  Mr.  Alli¬ 
son  was  k  subscriber  to  the  stock,  and  myself. 
I  understood  Mr.  Blaine  was  interested  in  the 
Coburns’  subscription.  Mr.  Alley  was  in  it, 
but  he  is  not  a  member  of  Congress.  He  is  a 
stockholder  now,  and  I  think  a  director.” 

Oh  pages  6  and  7 : 

u  Question .  What  do  you  know  in  regard 
to  any  members  of  Congress  being  interested 
in  it? 

Answer.  I  think  Mr.  Blaine  had  some  friend 
in  Maine,  by  the  name  of  Coburn,  who  ad¬ 
vanced  money  for  a  subscription  which  he  made 
and  they  divided  the  profits  and  he  paid  inter¬ 
est  on  the  investment.  That  was  my  under¬ 
standing.  I  understood,  at  the  time,  that  the 
Coburns  of  Skowhegan,  very  wealthy  men, 
offered  to  advance  the  money  to  Mr.  Blaine 
for  anything  he  thought  was  a  good  operation. 

Question.  Did  he  become  a  stockholder? 

Answer.  That  is  my  impression. 

Question.  Have  you  any  personal  knowl¬ 
edge  on  the  subject  ? 

Ansioer.  I  think  he  paid  the  assessments  the 
same  as  I  did. 

By  Mr.  Merrick  : 

Question .  You  have  no  knowledge  touch¬ 
ing  Mr.  Blaine’s  connection  with  this  except 
what  you  saw  on  the  books  ? 

Answer.  I  have  not. 

Question.  Have  you  any  recollection  how 
many  shares  stood  in  his  name  on  the  books  ? 


Answer.  No,  sir. 

Question.  Had  you  any  conversations  with 
him  in  reference  to  it  here?  Did  he  make 
any  statement  of  his  ownership  in  it  ? 

Answer ,  I  cannot  recollect.  I  got  the  im¬ 
pression,  I  think,  from  him  that  he  subscribed 
for  the  stock  when  we  thought  it  was  going  to 
be  a  good  investment.” 

And  on  page  20 : 

u  Question.  What  other  railroads  are  you 
interested  in  there  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know  that  that  has  any¬ 
thing  to  do  with  this  question  ;  I  have  no  ob¬ 
jection,  however,  to  answer ;  I  am  interested 
in  the  Chicago  and  Nebraska,  in  the  Cedar 
Rapids  and  Missouri  River, *  in  the  Iowa  Falls 
and  Sioux  City,  in  the  Sioux  City  and  Pacific, 
and  in  what  is  called  Lion’s  Plug  Road.  Is 
there  anything  else  you  want  to  know  about 
Iowa? 

Question.  I  have  no  personal  desire  in  the 
matter.  The  committee  invited  me  here  to 
ask  you  some  questions. 

Answer.  I  do  not  believe  the  committee 
invited  you  here  to  go  outside  of  this  resolu¬ 
tion.  I  did  not  know  it  was  a  crime  to  build 
a  railroad  until  this  investigation  commenced, 
and  I  am  not  fully  satisfied  of  it  yet. 

Question .  Did  you  know  at  the  time  the 
Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City  Railroad  Company 
was  formed  that  the  Coburns,  of  Maine,  were 
interested  in  it? 

Answer.  I  cannot  say  that  I  did  or  did  not. 
I  guess  the  company  was  formed  before  any¬ 
body  took  an  interest  in  it.  The  company  was 
formed,  and  then  looked  out  for  subscrip¬ 
tions. 

Question .  You  knew  it  as  soon  as  they  made 
their  subscription  ? 

Answer.  I  do  not  know ;  I  did  not  see  the 

books  very  often. 

Question.  When  did  it  come  to  your  knowl¬ 
edge  that  they  were  interested  in  it  ? 

Answer.  I  cannot  tell  you ;  probably  soon 
after  they  became  interested  in  it. 

Question.  Did  you,  at  that  time,  know  that 
the  Coburns  and  Mr.  Blaine  were  interested 
in  such  operations? 

Answer.  I  suppose  so.  I  supposed  the  Co¬ 
burns,  of  Maine,  and  Mr.  Blaine,  were  inter¬ 
ested  in  a  great  many  other  things. 

Mr.  Blaine.  It  is  perfectly  well  known  in 
Maine,  and  in  New  England  generally,  that 
such  has  been  the  fact.” 

Mr.  Blaine  testifies  on  page  15 : 

“  The  company  had  for  its  president  a  very 
eminent  railroad  man,  John  I.  Blair,  of  New 
Jersey.  He  came  on  here  and  interested  many 
persons  of  capital  in  the  enterprise,  and,  I 
think,  through  Senator  Grimes,  asked  me  to 
take  an  interest  in  it.  He  said  the  grant  was 
entirely  within  the  control  of  the  State  of 
Iowa,  and  that  the  State  would  give  it  to  this 

*  Official  testimony  shows  that  members  of  Con¬ 
gress  have  been  interested  in  this  road.  Indeed, 
wherever  inquiry  has  been  made  such  things  appear. 


39 


company.  I  said  to  Senator  Grimes  I  had  no 
money,  but  that  I  had  some  friends  in  Maine, 

**  and  I  mentioned  a  particular  friend,  Mr.  A. 

-  P.  Coburn,  of  Skowhegan,  Maine,  a  very 
wealthy  man,  whom  I  had  known  to  make  in¬ 
vestments  in  such  enterprises  before,  and  who 
would,  perhaps,  take  some  of  the  stock  on  my 
advice. 

This  Iowa  Falls  and  Sioux  City  Company 
was  organized  with  a  capital  of  $6,750,000,  if 
I  remember  right.  Of  this  stock  the  Coburns 
took  $200,000.  The  company  was  organized 
with  the  understanding  that  the  stockholders 
should  answer  all  assessments  upon  them  for 
building  the  road,  and  that  the  assessment 
should  be  paid  in  cash.  It  began  by  assess¬ 
ments  of  five  or  ten  per  cent.,  and  so  on  until 
the  aggregate  of  assessments  had  reached  in 
the  neighborhood  of  sixty  per  cent.,  and  the 
Coburns  had  paid  on  their  subscriptions  some 
where  near  $120,000  in  money,  and  within 
eighteen  months  the  road  was  built  and  com 
pleted  the  entire  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
in  length,  between  the  spring  of  1869  and  the 
autumn  of  1870.  It  was  built  absolutely  for 
cash.  They  did  not  issue  a  share  of  stock,  or 
any  bonds  or  anything  of  the  sort  until  the 
last  rail  was  laid  and  the  last  spike  driven. 
When  they  got  through  the  company  then 
issued  at  the  rate  of  $15,000  to  the  mile  of 
bonds,  and  $25,000  of  stock,  if  I  remember 
correctly.  These  bonds  brought  in  the  market 

*  about  80 ;  the  stock  was  worth  about  60.  That 
would  be  in  cash  value  $12,000  and  $15,000, 
altogether,  $27,000  a  mile;  and  they  had  paid 

*  in  cash  about  $23,000  a  mile  to  build  the 
road ;  so  that  the  profits,  if  ever  realized,  are 

t  to  be  mainly  in  the  appreciation  of  the  bonds 
and  stock,  a  profit  not  yet  realized. 

Last  January,  a  year  ago,  having  large  busi¬ 
ness  connections  with  the  Messrs.  Coburn  in 
various  matters,  I  had  a  general  settlement 
with  them,  and  in  that  settlement  I  took  a  por¬ 
tion  of  this  stock  at  about  sixty  cents  on  the 
dollar,  which  I  paid  in  cash.  That  was  the 
beginning  of  my  ownership  in  the  Iowa  Falls 
and  Sioux  City  railroad.  I  hold  that  stock 
to-day,  and  it  is  in  my  name  on  the  books  of 
the  company. 

I  want  to  ask  Mr.  Stevenson  what  there  is 
in  the  law  of  morals  or  ethics  by  which  a 
member  of  the  House,  or  the  Speaker  of  the 
House,  should  not  hold  that  stock?” 

On  pages  18  and  19 : 

u Question.  Do  you,  or  not,  have  a  general 
interest  with  them  (the  Coburns)  in  specula¬ 
tions  ? 

Answer.  In  railroads  or  other  things  ? 

Question.  In  various  transactions  ? 

Answer.  Yes  ;  in  a  great  many  other  things 
besides  railroads.  They  are  generally  under¬ 
stood  to  be  worth  about  $3,000,000,  and  very 
comfortable  friends  to  have. 

Question.  From  what  time  did  your  interest 
begin  with  them? 

t  Answer.  Twenty  years  ago,  perhaps. 


Question .  And  it  has  extended  continuously 
down  to  this  time  ? 

Answer .  Down  to  this  time.  I  hope  it  will 
extend  many  years  more. 

Question .  Does  it  refer  to  railroads  gen¬ 
erally  ? 

Answer.  I  am  not  very  generally  in  that 
business;  I  would  like  to  be  more  than  I  am. 

Question.  Do  you  know  how  much  interest 
they  had  in  this  road  ? 

Answer.  I  told  you  they  took  $200,000  of 
stock.  If  you  want  to  go  into  an  investiga¬ 
tion  of  all  their  transactions,  you  had  better 
send  for  them.  I  can  say  that,  generally, 
their  investments  have  been  very  large. 

Question.  What  was  the  nature  of  your 
arrangements  with  them  in  regard  to  these 
general  investments? 

Answer .  Timber,  coal  lands,  and  many  other 
things.” 

The  Chairman  suggested  that  this  was  some¬ 
what  amplifying  the  sphere  of  investigation  of 
this  committee. 

Mr.  Blaine.  I  have  had  relations  of  this 
sort  with  other  gentleman  besides  the  Co¬ 
burns,  that  you  can  go  into  also  if  you  desire.” 

Reexamination  of  Oakes  Ames : 

‘‘By  Mr.  Stevenson: 

Question.  Have  you  sold  to  Mr.  Blaine  any 
of  the  bonds  of  this  company  ? 

Answer.  I  think  I  sold  him  $5,000  of  the 
bonds  of  this  company. 

Question.  Did  you  not  sell  him  ten  or  twenty 
thousand  ? 

Answer.  I  think  not. 

Question.  When  did  you  sell  him  the  $5,000  ? 

Answer.  I  cannot  remember.” 

Reexamination  of  Mr.  Blaine : 

11  Mr.  Blaine.  Let  me  answer  that ;  I  can 
give  Mr.  Stevenson  all  the  information  he 
wants  on  that  subject.  I  bought  six  thousand 
of  these  bonds  of  Mr.  Ames  at  eighty  cents  on 
the  dollar,  and  accrued  interest  made  the 
amounts  I  paid  just  about  $5,000  in  money. 
I  bought  in  Boston  at  another  time,  I  think, 
$15,000,  for  which  I  paid  eighty  cents  on  the 
dollar. 

Mr.  Stevenson.  When  was  this  purchase  ? 

Answer.  This  purchase  was  in  the  fall  of 
1870  or  beginning  of  1871.  I  cannot  give  you 
the  exact  date. 

Question.  Were  these  bonds  turned  over  by 
you  to  the  Coburns  ? 

Answer.  A  part  of  them  were  turned  over 
to  the  Coburns,  and  they  took  them  as  so 
much  cash  at  a  certain  valuation.  Mr.  Ames 
thinks  I  ought  not  to  have  sold  them  so  low  ; 
they  were  seven  per  cent,  bonds,  and  good  to 
hold ;  if  I  had  had  the  money  I  should  not 
have  turned  them  in.  I  bought  the  first  lot 
of  $6,000  of  Mr.  Ames,  and  the  other  $15,000 
of  J.  M.  S.  Williams,  of  Boston,  who  was  a 
general  medium  for  the  exchange  of  that  sort 
of  securities.  Persons  who  wanted  to  buy  or 
wanted  to  sell  went  to  Mr.  Williams. 


40 


By  Mr.  Merrick  : 

Question.  When  you  say  you  bought  $6,000 
of  bonds  you  mean  $6,000  par  value? 

Answer.  Yes,  sir;  I  meant  six  separate 
bonds  of  $1,000  each ;  eighty  was  the  price 
they  were  being  secured  for;  I  think  they 
have  been  advancing  some  little  since.  I  will 
say  to  Mr.  Stevenson  that  I  hold  $10,000  of 
them  still.  That  is  a  question  he  has  not 
brought  out  yet,  but  I  am  willing  to  make  that 
statement,  and  I  am  only  sorry  it  is  not  ten 
times  as  much. 

By  the  Chairman  : 

Question.  Mr.  Stevenson  has  said  in  his 
statement  that  you  purchased  these  bonds  at 
one  price  and  turned  them  into  the  Messrs. 
Coburn  at  another. 

Answer.  Ido  not  think  thatis  important ;  if 
the  committee  think  it  is  I  am  willing  to  state 


what  the  transaction  was.  I  sold  some  of 
them  to  the  Messrs.  Coburn  as  high  as  ninety 
and  some  for  eighty-five.  My  business  with 
these  gentlemen  has  been  very  large,  the 
transactions  have  extended  over  a  long  period,, 
and  it  would  take  the  committee  longer  than 
they  would  desire  to  devote  to  this  subject  to 
go  into  all  the  details,  involving  the  details  of 
many  business  transactions  purely  personal  in 
their  relations.  I  have  no  concealment  about 
it  at  ail,  if  the  committee  desire  to  investigate 
all  my  transactions. 

The  Chairman.  That  does  not  seem  to  be 
germane  to  what  we  are  now  inquiring  about.  ” 

Other  Iowa  roads  in  which  Mr.  Ames  was 
interested  are  land  grant  roads,  and  he  was 
while  a  member  of  Congress  engaged  in  in¬ 
teresting  other  members  with  him  in  them, 
as  appears  in  evidence. 


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